Data CloudAdvancedidentity-resolutionover-mergedata-quality
Troubleshoot identity resolution over-merge after phone number recycling
Real World Scenario
Telco carrier recycles mobile numbers; new subscriber receives previous owner's SMS campaigns because phone match rule unified profiles incorrectly.
Expected Answer
• Add temporal signals: last activity date, SIM activation date from telco feed
• Require secondary corroborating attribute for phone-only matches
• Implement unmerge workflow with propagation to activations
• Monitor over-merge rate KPI with sampling review queue
• Exclude recycled number patterns if carrier provides indicator
• Lower auto-merge confidence for phone-only rules
• Campaign holdout when profile recently re-keyed
Follow-Up Questions & Answers
Click to expand — each follow-up includes a direct, interview-ready answer
Main difference: use case and scale. Add temporal signals: last activity date, SIM activation date from telco feed. Require secondary corroborating attribute for phone-only matches. Pick based on your integration pattern and team capability. Phone as primary key is fragile — architect match rules assuming number reuse is normal. Optimize for scale and operational observability.
Architect Perspective
Phone as primary key is fragile — architect match rules assuming number reuse is normal.