Understanding the Legal Implications of Identity Resolution

In the era of data sharing, it's more important than ever to understand how your personal information can be used against you.

Identity resolution

is the process of combining multiple identifiers, such as transactions, profile information, and behaviors on devices and touchpoints, with data points collected along the way. This creates an anonymous profile of a consumer that is collected on all devices. For example, if you combine data collected from laptop browsers, mobile phones, email subscriptions, televisions, and offline purchases into a single set, you could get a very complete picture of a person. However, all of this data has been anonymized so that the seller does not know any identifying information, such as name, email address, telephone number or postal address.

In more general terms, they might know the gender, age, location, and things that a person likes to read online, shop, etc. This is an additional step that publishers can implement, as well as another signal that they can transmit to their identity partners to demonstrate their commitment to respecting user preferences. Forrester found that most high-level executives overvalue the accuracy and persistence of their marketing organization's customer identity. While it may seem like they want the best of both worlds, identity resolution allows us to offer consumers the personalized experience they expect without compromising their privacy. The real reason identity is so important is because it's the exact point at which even correctly collected and formatted data can be damaged. Some providers use hybrid approaches to identity resolution, which attempt to compensate for deterministic and probabilistic weaknesses while capitalizing on their advantages.

Not only is identity resolution critical to successful marketing, but it's also essential for complying with consumer privacy laws, such as the CCPA and the GDPR. A key principle of both laws is the “right to be forgotten”, which means that consumers have the right to ask companies to erase any data related to their identity. Identity resolution is the science that connects the growing volume of consumer identifiers to a person as they interact across channels and devices. It's also the key to knowing who your customers are in a more comprehensive and holistic way than previous approaches. Having a secure integration with the right identity partners will allow you to prepare your addressability strategy for the long-term future. Effective identity resolution supports your organization's commitment to data governance and, ultimately, consumer trust in your brand.

Explore the essential platforms for identity resolution in the latest edition of this MarTech intelligence report. Because identity resolution takes care of everything, customers get a better customer experience by receiving advertisements and offers that relate directly to their needs and interests, while marketing teams improve the efficiency of their programs and conversion rates. With identity resolution, you can connect the dots between the customer's browsing as an anonymous user and their browsing and purchases after creating an account. Explore the platform capabilities of vendors such as Acxiom, Experian, Infutor, Merkle and others in MarTech's full intelligence report on identity resolution platforms.