Fig. 3: Privacy Preserving Record Linkage (PPRL) Data linkage allows multiple records from diverse datasets to be linked.

An individual can have their personal data recorded in many different datasets. For example, in the healthcare system a patient may appear in electronic health records (EHR), insurance claims, and mortality records. To be used in a manner that protects personally identifiable information (PII) and maintain privacy, these datasets undergo a process of normalization, identity resolution, and matching. Once records are matched and assigned a unique identifier/hash these data can be queried in a variety of ways.