Patent ID: 8250637

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing identity records received by an entity resolution system: receiving a first identity record; associating the first identity record with a first entity by one of resolving the first identity record to an existing entity in the entity resolution system and creating a new entity in the entity resolution system; evaluating at least the first entity against one or more conditions specified in a relevance detection rule; upon determining that the one or more conditions specified by the relevance detection rule are satisfied: generating a first alert, and assigning an original alert relevance score to the first alert, determined, at least in part, on a rule relevance score associated with the relevance detection rule; and upon determining that the first alert is a duplicate of a second, previously generated, alert, wherein the second alert was generated based on at least a second identity record associated with the first entity: retrieving at least an alert relevance score associated with the second alert, and assigning a current alert relevance score to the first alert, determined, at least in part, on the alert relevance score associated with the second alert and the original alert relevance score assigned to the first alert; wherein each of the alert relevance scores provides a quantitative measure of relevance for an occurrence of an event that satisfies the one or more conditions of the relevance detection rule.