Patent ID: 7685093

Claim:
A method for comparing attributes, comprising: providing a system having an identity hub coupled to a set of data sources and a set of operator computers via a network, wherein the identity hub includes a processor and a memory and is configured to store a link between one or more data records in the set of data sources; receiving, at the identity hub, a first attribute from one of the set of data sources or from one of the set of operators, wherein the first attribute is associated with a first data record in a first data source of the set of data sources, the first data record representing a first entity; receiving, at the identity hub, a second attribute associated with a second data record in a second data source of the set of data sources, the second data record representing a second entity; calculating, at the identity hub, an average information score for the first attribute and the second attribute; generating, at the identity hub, a weight for the first attribute and the second attribute; and normalizing, at the identity hub, the weight based on the average information score, wherein generating the weight comprises comparing each of a set of tokens of the first attribute to each of a set of tokens of the second attribute and comparing each pair of tokens comprises: determining, at the identity hub, a current match weight for the pair of tokens; determining, at the identity hub, a first previous match weight corresponding to the pair of tokens; determining, at the identity hub, a second previous match weight corresponding to the set of tokens; setting, at the identity hub, the weight to the current match weight if the current match weight is greater than the first previous match weight or the second previous match weight; setting, at the identity hub, the weight to the greater of the first previous match weight or the second previous match weight if either the first previous match weight or the second previous match weight is greater than the current match weight; and determining if the first data record and the second data record should be linked based at least in part on the weight between the two attributes and if it is determined that the first data records and the second data record should be linked, establishing a link at the identity hub between the first data record in the first data source and the second data record in the second data source, wherein the link indicates that the first entity represented by the first data record in the first data source is the same as the second entity represented by the second data record in the second data source.