How it Works: Methods of Identification

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There are two primary approaches to connecting a user's activities across devices:

Deterministic Matching:

How it works: This method relies on persistent, unique identifiers that a user provides when logging into a service or website across multiple devices. The most common identifier is an email address. When a user logs into your website, app, or email service using the same email address on their phone and then their desktop, the system can confidently link those two devices to the same individual.
Email's role: Email is a cornerstone greece email list of deterministic matching. When a user opens an email that contains a tracking pixel (a tiny, invisible image) or clicks a link in an email, and they are logged into your site/app, that email interaction can be tied to their logged-in user ID, which is then associated with the device they used.
Accuracy: Highly accurate because it's based on explicit user login data.
Probabilistic Matching:

How it works: This method uses algorithms and statistical modeling to make educated guesses about whether different devices belong to the same user. It analyzes a combination of anonymous data points that are likely to be consistent across a user's devices, such as:
IP address
Device type (e.g., iPhone 15, MacBook Pro)
Operating system
Browser type and version
Time of day/location patterns
Browse behavior (e.g., visiting the same websites)
Email's role: While not a direct identifier here, patterns of email opens and clicks (even if not logged in) from specific IP addresses or device types can contribute to the probabilistic model's confidence in linking devices.
Accuracy: Less accurate than deterministic matching, as it's based on inference, but it can cover a wider range of users who don't consistently log in.