As shown in FIG. 4B, processing of the silent authentication process can begin from node 415 by beginning with operation 431. In operation 431, the device can verify that the profile contains a valid identifier of a content provider and also contains a device token. If the profile contains both a valid identifier and a device token, processing can proceed to operation 433. If the profile does not contain both, then processing reverts back to node 419 which returns processing to operation 421 shown in FIG. 4A. In this instance, the user may be required to manually set up the device for service with a content provider. Referring back to FIG. 4B, in operation 433, the device obtains the metadata for the content provider and verifies the metadata is valid. If it is not valid, processing returns through node 419 back to operation 421 which may require manual user input of data in order to set up the device as a set-top box with a content provider. If operation 433 determines that the metadata is valid then in operation 435, the device makes a new account authentication request with the device token as an input to the authentication request. The request can include a flag which indicates that a user interface is not allowed to be presented to the user during the silent authentication process. The device in operation 437 starts a content provider authentication context and processing proceeds through node 439 to the method shown in FIG. 4C.