All organizations hold and use information about people. These people may be customers, employees, contractors, agents, suppliers, or contacts. The information that is held is gradually accumulated over time. Some of it may have been acquired through agencies or via indirect sources of data. Some of the information may have been provided on an as-needed basis by ad-hoc information sources.
Unfortunately, such information can be and often is inaccurate in many different ways and this lack of accuracy creates a need for Identity Resolution. Identity Resolution technology is software that applies a set of logical rules to information about people in order to increase accuracy and reduce the possibility of misidentification. Misidentification can, of course, have a large impact in specific areas such as money laundering and fraudulent claims as well as an across the board impact in corporate functions such as marketing.
This Hurwitz & Associates report examines Identity Resolution technology, what it is, how it works, and why it is important. Hurwitz also looks at how Identity Resolution serves as the foundation for two other important technologies – Relationship Resolution and Anonymous Resolution and IBM’s solutions in this area. Finally, the report provides an illustrative case study that describes the experience of a financial institution using this technology to manage identity information, detect potential fraudsters and money laundering activities and comply with The Patriot Act.
While several products claim to have Entity Resolution and Analysis like technologies, none provide the breadth of capabilities than that of IBM's Entity Analytic Solutions (EAS).
