# Entity Resolution
**Entity class:** Analytic method
**Maturity:** Developed
## Definition
**Entity resolution** determines whether records from different systems refer to the same person, organization, account, device, vehicle, place, or event. It is the identity-hygiene prerequisite for answering “who knows who”: false merges create spurious associations, while missed merges hide real ones.
## Relationships
- **enables:** [[wiki/Identity and Relationship Analysis|Identity and Relationship Analysis]], [[wiki/Graph Analytics|Graph Analytics]], and [[wiki/Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment|TIDE]].
- **used by:** [[wiki/ICEPIC|ICEPIC]] and [[wiki/Investigative Case Management|Investigative Case Management]].
- **feeds:** [[wiki/Link Prediction|Link Prediction]].
## Sources / Provenance
- [[research/Immigration and Customs Enforcement Pattern Analysis and Information Collection (ICEPIC)|ICEPIC research dossier]]