Identity Correlation

In information systems, identity correlation is a process that reconciles and validates the proper ownership of disparate user account login IDs (user names) that reside on systems and applications throughout an organization and can permanently link ownership of those user account login IDs to particular individuals by assigning a unique identifier (also called primary or common keys) to all validated account login IDs.

The process of identity correlation validates that individuals only have account login IDs for the appropriate systems and applications a user should have access to according to the organization’s business policies, access control policies and various application requirements.

A unique identifier, in the context of identity correlation, is any identifier which is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for a group of individuals and for a specific purpose. There are three main types of unique identifiers, each corresponding to a different generation strategy:

• Serial numbers, assigned incrementally
• Random numbers, selected from a number space much larger than the maximum (or expected) number of objects to be identified. Although not really unique, some identifiers of this type may be appropriate for identifying objects in many practical applications, and so are referred to as “unique” within this context
• Name or codes allocated by choice, but are forced to be unique by keeping a central registry such as the EPC Information Services of the EPCglobal Network

For the purposes of identity correlation, a unique identifier is typically a serial number or random number selected from a number space much larger than the maximum number of individuals who will be identified. A unique identifier, in this context, is typically represented as an additional attribute in the directory associated with each particular data source. However, adding an attribute to each system-specific directory may affect application requirements or specific business requirements, depending on the requirements of the organization. Under these circumstances, unique identifiers may not be an acceptable addition to an organization.