Google : Find Missed Person Information Online

Name of the Organisation : Google Person Finder (google.org)
Type of Facility : Find Missed Person Information Online

Website : http://google.org/personfinder/global/home.html

Google Person Finder :
Google Person Finder is a web application that allows individuals to post and search for the status of relatives or friends affected by a disaster. The program also lets press agencies, non-governmental agencies and others contribute to the database and receive updates by using the Person Finder API based on the PFIF open standard. In addition, websites can choose to embed Google Person Finder as a gadget on their own pages. Google Person Finder is open source software meaning that any developer can create their own instance of Google Person Finder after a disaster. Person Finder runs on the Google App Engine platform, and it has been launched in over 40 languages. We do our best to make sure it’s available in the most commonly spoken languages in disaster prone countries.

It helps people reconnect with friends and loved ones in the aftermath of natural and humanitarian disasters.

** A crisis strikes and people get separated.
** They let the world know they are looking for someone.
** Individuals and organizations provide information.
** People find information about their friends and family.

Responders :
You can help people find each other in the aftermath of a disaster :
** Embed Google Person Finder in your site
** Download data from Google Person Finder
** Upload data into Google Person Finder

Information for responders :
Any time Google launches Google Person Finder in response to a crisis, government and nonprofit organizations can help people locate each other by spreading the word, using the data, and adding information.

Embed Google Person Finder in your site :
Spread the word about Google Person Finder to your community. You can point people to this Google Person Finder page, or you can embed a small version of Google Person Finder directly on your website using the following HTML code :

<iframe
src=”http://google.org/personfinder/repository/?small=yes”
width=400 height=300 frameborder=0
style=”border: dashed 2px #77c”></iframe>

(Replace repository with the appropriate repository name.)

The above gadget code is made available under the Apache 2.0 license, and any data you receive in connection with the gadget is shared under a Creative Commons license.

Download data from Google Person Finder :
You can download the data in Google Person Finder or synchronize it with your own database using the Google Person Finder API. The information is provided in People Finder Interchange Format (PFIF), which is based on XML. See the Person Finder code site for detailed instructions on requesting access and downloading data.

Upload data into Google Person Finder :
Add information from your database to Google Person Finder to make it available to the public and get the crowd to add what they know to the records. You will need to format your data in People Finder Interchange Format (PFIF) in order to upload it into Google Person Finder. See the Person Finder code site for detailed instructions on requesting access and uploading data.

See how

Developers :
You can help continue to improve Google Person Finder :
** Learn about the PFIF data model
** Customize or improve Person Finder

Get started

Help?
If you have specific technical issues to report please fill out the technical issue form. If you have general feedback for our team, please fill out our feedback form.

If you have more questions about Google Person Finder or a general discussion to start, please join our discussion group.