---
title: What is identity resolution? · EleeN
url: https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution
language: en
description: What identity resolution is, how emails, phone numbers and device IDs resolve into one ID per person, and why it matters for data collaboration.
---

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3. What is identity resolution?

# What is identity resolution?

ExplainerPublished 24 October 2026

Identity resolution is the process of recognising that different identifiers, such as an email, a phone number and a device ID, belong to the same person. It turns scattered records into one view of each customer, which every audience, match and measurement depends on.

## In this article

1. [01Why identity resolution matters](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#why)
2. [02How it works](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#how)
3. [03Identity resolution and privacy](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#privacy)
4. [04Why local data matters](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#local)
5. [05How to judge the results](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#quality)
6. [06How EleeN approaches identity](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#eleen)

In this article

1. [01Why identity resolution matters](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#why)
2. [02How it works](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#how)
3. [03Identity resolution and privacy](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#privacy)
4. [04Why local data matters](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#local)
5. [05How to judge the results](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#quality)
6. [06How EleeN approaches identity](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-identity-resolution#eleen)

## 01Why identity resolution matters

Customers don't use one identifier. The same person might be an email address in a CRM, a mobile number in an app and a device ID in an ad account. Without resolution, they look like three different people.

That fragmentation shows up everywhere: duplicate records, audiences smaller than they should be, low match rates when audiences are sent to ad platforms, and measurement that can't connect who saw a campaign with who bought.

## 02How it works

Identity resolution links the identifiers that belong together and gives them one ID. There are two broad approaches:

- Deterministic matching: linking records that share an exact identifier, such as the same email address. It's precise, but only as complete as the identifiers you hold.
- Probabilistic matching: inferring links from weaker signals, such as devices or behaviour. It reaches further, but with less certainty, and it raises more privacy questions.

The links are usually kept in an identity graph: a map of which identifiers belong to which ID, updated as data changes.

## 03Identity resolution and privacy

Resolving identity means handling personal data, so how it's done matters:

- Hash before matching: compare identifiers as one-way hashes rather than raw values.
- Use only what you need: map the identifiers a purpose requires, and leave the rest untouched.
- Resolve where the data lives: avoid copying customer records to a vendor just to link them.
- Treat IDs as personal data: a pseudonymous ID can still relate to a real person, so it needs the same protection.

## 04Why local data matters

An identity graph is only as good as the data it was built on. Many were built on US or European data, then extended to other regions.

In Saudi Arabia, that can miss local patterns: mobile numbers written as +966 or 05, people with more than one number, and Arabic names written in Latin script in many ways (Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohamed). A graph designed around local data handles these from the start.

## 05How to judge the results

- Resolution rate: the share of records that resolve to an ID.
- Match rate: the share of an audience an ad platform or a partner can match.
- Precision: whether different people are wrongly merged into one.
- Freshness: whether links update as customers change numbers, emails or devices.

## 06How EleeN approaches identity

EleeNID resolves the emails, phone numbers and device IDs your team maps into one pseudonymous ID per person, designed around Saudi data from the start. Identifiers are hashed before they're compared, resolution runs where your data lives, and each source shows its resolution rate. [See how EleeNID works](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/identity).

Keep reading

## Go further. Related pages and explainers.

[EleeNIDEleeNID resolves the emails, phone numbers and device IDs in your data into one pseudonymous ID per person, hashed and read in place, built for Saudi data.](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/identity) · [What is a data clean room?What a data clean room is, how two organisations use one to answer shared questions without seeing each other's records, and when to use one.](https://www.eleenai.com/en/resources/what-is-a-data-clean-room) · [ActivationSend audiences to Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat and more as hashed identifiers, with consent checked for each platform and match rates back in aggregate.](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/activation)

Get started

## See how your identifiers would resolve. Local formats included.

Tell us which identifiers you hold and where they live. We'll go through how EleeNID would read them in place.

[Book a call](https://www.eleenai.com/en/contact) · [How EleeNID works](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/identity)

What happens next

1. [01]A call about your data and goals
2. [02]Your team connects one source
3. [03]Start with an audience, the marketplace or a partner

Try it

Map your identifiers

EmailsPhone numbersDevice IDs

- Emails
- Phone numbers
- Device IDs
- One ID per person

410,000

People resolved

Example figures only.

## [Platform](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform)

- [EleeNID](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/identity)
- [Clean rooms](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/clean-rooms)
- [Marketplace](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/marketplace)
- [Activation](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/activation)
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- [Integrations](https://www.eleenai.com/en/platform/integrations)

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