Methods and systems for identifying multiple devices belonging to a single user by merging deterministic and probabilistic data to generate a cross device data structure

An analytics computing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions included in the memory to perform operations comprising:
• receiving probabilistic data of a plurality of devices and deterministic data of the plurality of devices;
• generating (i) a first probabilistic device cluster that includes a first set of devices from the plurality of devices that share a first usage pattern identified from the probabilistic data and (ii) a second probabilistic device cluster that includes a second set of devices from the plurality of devices that share a second usage pattern identified from the probabilistic data;
• identifying, from the deterministic data, a deterministic link between a first device from the first set of devices and a second device from the second set of devices, wherein the deterministic link indicates a user identifier that is (i) associated with the first device and with the second device and (ii) specific to a particular user from a plurality of users;
• generating, based on the deterministic link, a hybrid cross-device data structure that includes the first probabilistic device cluster and the second probabilistic device cluster, wherein the hybrid cross-device data structure indicates that the first set of devices and the second set of devices are associated with the particular user from the plurality of users;
• and
• collecting, based on the hybrid cross-device data structure, subsequent analytics data generated by the particular user operating a device included in the first set of devices or in the second set of devices.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying program code executable by a computing system, wherein the program code is executable to perform operations comprising:

• receiving probabilistic data of a plurality of devices and deterministic data of the plurality of devices;
• generating (i) a first probabilistic device cluster that includes a first set of devices from the plurality of devices that share a first usage pattern identified from the probabilistic data and (ii) a second probabilistic device cluster that includes a second set of devices from the plurality of devices that share a second usage pattern identified from the probabilistic data;
• identifying, from the deterministic data, a deterministic link between a first device from the first set of devices and a second device from the second set of devices, wherein the deterministic link indicates a user identifier that is (i) associated with the first device and with the second device and (ii) specific to a particular user from a plurality of users;
• generating, based on the deterministic link, a hybrid cross-device data structure that includes the first probabilistic device cluster and the second probabilistic device cluster, wherein the hybrid cross-device data structure indicates that the first set of devices and the second set of devices are associated with the particular user from the plurality of users;
• and collecting, based on the hybrid cross-device data structure, subsequent analytics data generated by the particular user operating a device included in the first set of devices or in the second set of devices.