Penn State’s Administrative Data Accelerator has selected consumer identity management expert Infutor to support research that informs policy and improves lives.

Located in the College of Health and Human Development’s Prevention Research Center, and supported by the Social Science Research Institute, the Administrative Data Accelerator collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to acquire and securely store administrative data for use by its research fellows and data scientists.

“Using data created through the routine running of programs allows us to generate evidence, advance research, and inform policy at minimal cost to the public, with big impact for society,” said Max Crowley, director of the Administrative Data Accelerator and assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. “We are excited to leverage Infutor’s historical property and real estate data to better inform our researchers’ varied programs.”

The Administrative Data Accelerator Enclave, a component of the Evidence-to-Impact-Collaborative, also has joint support from the Social Science Research Institute, Department of Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, and the Smeal College of Business.

“University-supported economics and social market research initiatives have a profound impact on social policies and we are proud to support their efforts with robust historical consumer data,” said Gary Walter, CEO of Infutor. “Our consumer identity data serves as a critical data source for tracking address histories that can be used for migration, housing and other valuable research initiatives.”

Infutor compiles deterministic, authoritative and permissible data from sources such as public and private telephone data, deed and property information, subscription services and numerous other privacy and security-compliant sources. Infutor combines these records into a single identity graph that identifies individuals and links particular records to a single individual. Penn State’s academic publications report only summary information about the underlying identity graph, not specific personal details, to ensure the protection of the identity of individuals and accompanying sensitive data.