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Studies in Intelligence Vol. 70, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2026)

Three Pillars of Identity Intelligence: A Brief History

By Lara Ballard, who has served as the privacy and intelligence oversight officer for Intelligence and Analysis in DHS. She was an attorney-advisor with the Office of the Legal Advisor and special adviser for privacy and technology at the Department of State.

Introduction

The largely unexplored history of identity intelligence (I2) reveals that it has three prerequisites that did not exist before the 20th century: (1) One or more reliable and immutable identity attributes that can travel with an individual; (2) A sophisticated method of information retrieval; (3) A robust administrative state, with a professional and incorruptible bureaucracy that can consistently collect, retrieve, and employ I2 with accuracy and integrity. I2 cannot function without these three pillars, and wherever and whenever one of them falls short, I2 falls short as well.

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