Identity Resolution

In this deep dive episode of Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons, hosts Kerry Parker, Aisha White, and Zach Edwards unpack the hidden world of identity resolution—the sophisticated, often invasive practice of stitching together fragmented digital breadcrumbs to build detailed, persistent profiles of individuals. From third-party cookies and mobile advertising IDs to browser fingerprinting, TLS fingerprinting, and even ambient audio sampling, the panel reveals how companies use probabilistic data, AI-driven enrichment, and real-world tracking (via SDKs, location data, and retail loyalty programs) to create hyper-targeted identity graphs. These systems are not only inaccurate—correctly identifying gender only 42% of the time—but also enable dangerous applications like surveillance pricing, political micro-targeting, and the misclassification of individuals based on flawed inferences. The discussion extends to the real-world harms: false assumptions about ethnicity, privacy violations through shared household data, and the commodification of grief and vulnerability. Despite the pervasiveness of these systems, the panel offers hope through practical steps—digital subject access requests, using privacy-safe browsers, disabling mobile ad IDs, and leveraging tools like Apple’s Hide My Email—while advocating for systemic change through federal privacy legislation, the California DROP Act, and a return to contextual advertising. The episode ends with a stark warning: the illusion of privacy from incognito mode and VPNs is just that—an illusion—unless paired with proactive, multi-layered defense strategies.