123people is a real time people search tool. Using a proprietary search algorithm, you can find people related information consisting of images, videos, phone numbers, email addresses, social networking, Wikipedia profiles and more.
What makes 123people interesting to me — beyond the User Interface (I’m sick of looking at Google and Yahoo search index pages) – is its crowd wisdom. Users can add information to every single search result, like a Wiki.
I played with 123people for 30 minutes this evening and I couldn’t stump the engine. The site found something on every single person I referenced. Of course different spellings turn up different results just as they do on the major engines like Google and Yahoo. For example, a search for ‘Brad Kay’ turns up a more anemic result than ‘Bradley Kay’ where my optimization is far superior.
Give it a ride and let me know what you think.
Stumble It!
thank you for posting. interesting links attached as well.
True, interesting search engine, played a while with it too.
Had to compare it with “Yasni” right away, especially since Yasni calls itself the “world’s most popular people search engine”.
No idea if that’s true, only thing I know for sure is that Yasni delivered way better results on my name. They have a US version at http://www.yasni.com and a UK version at http://www.yasni.co.uk.
Give it a try, I really like it.
I am in my last year of law school and I am looking to get a job soon. I don’t want all of this kind of information out there on sites like these for prospective employers to find. I tried to look to see how I can remove myself from 123people’s search results (Peekyou effectively removes your results if you request them to in less than a day), but 123people only says that they may remove you on a case-by-case basis, but it sounds like they rarely do because of the indicies.
Has anyone had any luck removing themself from this site? It’s not like I have anything bad on there (just my myspace page), but I found friends who will probably want their info off ASAP.
Still trying to get my email address removed from their website. No replies to my emails. Very frustrating. Also annoying that half the details on my 123people page no longer exists on the websites they retrieved it from, including my email. If only they updated their results. I’m stuck with what to do. Anyone can now find my email address by searching my name on Google. It’s also going to attract spam bots. Arghhh.
Hi Chris.
I work with 123people, what email did you use?
Please email: searchsupport_com@123people.com
Someone should reply as soon as possible
I sent them a message saying that I was fed up and I may take further action if they do not remove it. They eventually did.
I am outraged that this site has my home address and phone number for any crackpots to see. I have emailed them and have not gotten a response. This is completely irresponsible.
Hi Jill,
All the information that is gathered is available publicly. We do NOT access private accounts. If you publish the information online, not only will 123people find it, so will Google.
123people can in fact be used to protect your privacy by searching for where the information came from and removing it from the source.
If you find the information does not disappear within a week, it’s probably down to the source not having removed it properly.
It pays dividends to read terms and conditions when you sign up to a website or when you enter private information somewhere…..
I hope this helps.
123people
123people is just an awful website who use our personal information to make money (see how many ads are there).
They don’t make ANY efforts to provide accurate information, and are not of any use to anybody. They just take info they find on the web and gather it on one page, making search about a person difficult and pointless.
It’s a sort of parasite of the web, so many people are fed up with them, but I am pretty confident that one day some guy will get them to court and win, and that 123people will be forced to propose an option to diseappear from this site.
This day it will be a victory of the internet.
(Come on guys, you’re making money of course, buy yourself a conscience then).
Finally, these idiots are taking my private information and selling it. Apparently they are based in Austria. Isn’t that the birthplace of Hitler? They s _ _ k a _ _.
I’m not quite sure what Hitler has to do with 123people;
Nevertheless you should realise (as mentioned in my last reply), that none of the information we publish is private. It’s all available in the public domain for ANYONE to access.
Yes, but what is the added value of your website?
I have asked three times to be removed. NO RESPONSE
I am furious!!!!!!!!!!! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
if enough complain it will gather weight and they will be challenged. I would like them to remove my details which you can get to by simply typing in any of my phone numbers in google. B***ards.
123People is the worst website ever invented. it symbolises everything that is bad about the internet.
I can think of far worse things including pornography, abuse, sick photos and videos, terrorist planning and so forth. The list could go on and on.
Or perhaps you think a people search engine is worse?
Interesting morals!
you’re missing the point
how is pornography worse?
Here is Maja from 123people.
I was just reading the comments that you guys wrote about our web site. I was surprised as I read so many positive comments of people who are happy to use a tool like this which can be very helpful whilst searching for a new job, business contacts, lost relatives, friends etc…
Please try to understand that while you may be unhappy seeing your details on 123people, it is not in our power to remove data since we do not post or store information. Those informations are however resolved from publicly available sources on the internet, the 123people engine then collects, sorts and displays them in real time. If you go to the original source of the information and delete it, it will cease to appear in the 123people search results.
Our CS team goes to great effort to ensure the satisfaction of users and thus replies to EVERY e-mail that we receive within 48 to 72 hours.
Enjoy using 123people!
Maja
123people.com
Customer Services Manager
This is a dangerous service. I have a stalker, and he is now able to find me. This is compromising my security. How can this be legal? I would like to know, Maja…… what is the address, and telephone number of 123people.com’s legal department before I wind up dead in a ditch somewhere?
Yes – I’ve enjoyed 123people so much that I’ve had to deal with a stalker who used your CONVENIENT website to find me. Thank you so much for making it easier for criminals to hunt their prey!
If you don’t post or store then why does your website say you have a cache of our information and that’s why when we delete it from the original source it stays on your site regardless?
This is the funniest thing I’ve ever read. You are not able to remove data from your OWN website?
Do you really think we are that stupid?
123people is just another one of a long line of bottom feeders who sell people’s personal information online. Maja can try to sugarcoat it as much as she wants, but it boils down to a company that is exploiting others for a quick buck. You can try to contact them to remove your info, but it won’t get you anywhere. You’ll just get a automated response spouting similar verbiage to the drivel that Maja and her co-worker hide behind. I guess it helps them sleep better at night… but i bet Maja’s personal info isn’t displayed on their website. Otherwise i’m sure she would receive an endless stream of complaint emails and phone calls to her home number.
Sad part is the search search results are pathetically inaccurate. It has me living in cities i’ve never even visited, and my age is wrong. What a laughable company.
What’s laughable is the fact that people forget the world is a big place and there are usually more than one person with the same name. How hard is that to comprehend?!
These muppets (123people) have used a picture of me and my baby in their info along with other pictures and details.
If they don’t remove my details very soon i’ll be taking legal action against them. I don’t mess around, i took the webmaster of a blog to court because he used my details and spammed people. I was compensated with a fair bit of cash and i know for a fact that 123people are in the wrong by using our info in this way. The difference between 123people and google is that google offer to give you a meta tag or a code so their crawlers will find your site/profile and put it in their search results where as 123people just save your details for what’s basically a free people finding website.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the creator is doing business with debt collectors.. These people need a f***in good man slap.
This site 123people is a real shame. It is completely illegal and outrageous and should not exist. Delete this site !!!
It mixes, without any previous consent from the concerned persons, their personal and professional information and publications, it extracts these pieces of information from their context, it mixes the pieces of information with those of homonyms. So, doing so, it hits the comminication strategies set up by the concerned persons, it violates the laws against data protection, it violates private life, it violates author rights.
DELETE THIS SITE !!!
I just cannot believe that this site exists, it says that all info is in the public domain…..
All of my details are kept private on the sites that it comes up with. Not happy and I am seeking legal advice on this.
Hi, Just supposed I’d let you recognize your website is rendering funny in my K-melleon browser. Looks good from what I can see however.
Anyone have any luck removing themselves from this site yet?
I have no problem with someone doing a service, but I would prefere to choose weather or not I am to be listed in their directory.
i think this site is bullshit, it lists all of my address, phone numbers, personal information… a great way for assholes to steal identities..this site should be illegal
i went back and read some responses from 123people,
“Those informations are however resolved from publicly available sources on the internet, the 123people engine then collects, sorts and displays them in real time. If you go to the original source of the information and delete it, it will cease to appear in the 123people search results.
”
- this is bullshit, i’ve done several searches, looked through pages and pages, and their are no sites that list my address’s for the past 15 years – conveniently grouped with my age and current address
if you work for 123 people, you are a scumbag
This site is a real shame. If there is a way to stop them publishing my NONPUBLIC (unlike what they say) info, let me know. These ignorant people don’t reply to my e-mails.
Bedankt voor deze post. Ik heb het met aandacht gelezen
Jumping late into this thread as I just recently stumbled upon this site within the organic results on a search for my name. Are there any updates on how we can collectively take action?
123people: This is unbelievable. You claim that these records of ours are “public” anyway, but realize that it need not be so easily searchable and accessible. 1) Be responsive to email requests, and 2) Be respectful of our requests and advise openly on how we may opt out some/all of our information as needed.
I have also found myself on 123people, and I was furious! The picture they have is one of me when I was 13, a minor.
I never registered to be part of any internet people directory, I’m not even in the phone book, I do not want to be a part of this.
If anyone has any ideas how to get rid of their information from this site, I would like to know, I am considering taking legal action.
Big Article! Hey, did you realize this blog is cataloged by Google news?Just found it in a google SERP at the top…How did you do that? I needlol.
Hi,
I’m a 16 yr old boy from UK and was messing about on internet, I googled myself and found this sight, noticing that there were photos taken from facebook of people all with my name I scrolled along and found my picture, I am outraged and also afraid, I cannot believe that they have taken my personal information like this, and I do not want my picture so easily accessible, but the thing is the picture they have of me was from when I was fifteen (15) so, since I was a child under 16 years of age, can I get the police to get my picture off them or something? I DON’T WANT THOSE PIGS TO HAVE MY FACE N THEIR SITE FOR ALL THE PATHETIC, PERVERTED, MIDDLE AGED INTERNET CREEPS TO SEE AND SAVE!!!
Hey, I posted a comment a few weeks back and just to update you all, my photos and ibformation have been removed. I don’t know how. But I checked again just now, and they are definitely gone!
Yup a close friend of mine has run afoul of them. Spurious posting of information.
She will be contacting them shortly to get her infroamqtion removed.
123 = outdated business data model
Stop it you idiots.
Sir/madam
I recently googled” yasmeen hussain” and the first web site
which is ” yasmeen hussain-email, address, phone numbers, everything
broker/ realtor hani iwish 265 pesnsylvania ne # 2000 albuqueque, nm 87110 505.610.6072:Coldwell banker legacy yasmeen hussain 8627 desert dusk ct…..
http://www.123 people. com/s/yasmeen+ hussain.
This website has a picture of O.J Simpson, terrorists &other
people who are not connected to this site. I find this very
offensive and disturbing to me and any other professionals
who try to look-up my name.
Can you please delete all the pictures and the obscene info. including the offensive articles from this web site.
Also combining two professionals web site into one is not a good idea. your prompt clean-up of this will be appreciated. thanks in advance.
I do not want to be a part of this. I will take take legal action if I am not removed.
I also want to be taken off immediately. They are offering to sell my personal information, which means they are illegally attempting to make a profit off of me. I don’t care where they found the information, I never allowed for them to use or sell it. I will also take legal action if I am not immediately removed from the site. This is a horribe site and I agree that no amount of defending it by the 123 designers justifies what they are doing.
please remove my personal information from 123people.comand any other websites that your capable of removing me from.i feel as if my privacy has been invaded and people want to know why i hate to give out personal information on line well this is a perfect example why.who gave them this information?please just make it go away!
Friends of The Third Place,
Please note that The Third Place has nothing to do with 123 People. I continue to post your comments with the expectation that the appropriate personnel at 123 People will contact you directly and, in specific events, remove you from its database.
Thanks for your understanding.
Yea I have pretty much had it with these low level operations – like 123people- taking our personal information and utilizing it to make money. Legal action unfortunately is the only option available to deal them.
I would advise EVERYONE to write to the attorney general to force 123people to give an option to opt out. I think it’s time for a class action lawsuit. People have to right to protect their information.
Problem with the site is that they post incorrect information. Wherever it may come from – it’s just irresponsible!!!
Is there anyone who actually wants their personal information, as well as their family member’s names (which can then be searched as well), et cetera, plastered on the internet for unstable exes and strangers to find? Curious, who thought this was a wise idea?
I have a name that is very unique, the only one of me on Facebook and anywhere else so far…so, I am very concerned when I Google my name after making sure that all the sites that 123 had information on me were updated so as to not display my personal information…and much to my surprise, all the same crap is displayed. They have where I live, links to pictures of me, and links to my family members. So, yes, please, someone from 123 contact me so we can fix this, your site sure as hell does not make it easy to do so.
Yeah, I am pissed.
My full home address is displayed on their website. Crazy. I’ve never seen that before, anywhere. How do they get away with that legally? In addition, I suspect they somehow trawled my personal information from one or two websites I registered at using my real first and last names because doing so was required, but I did this under the strict condition of privacy. No one but that site’s administrators were supposed to be able to access that information, and yet there it is. Connected to my information on this organization’s website. I wish someone with some power would look into how THAT’S happening.
I’ve actually had personal information published in the past on other websites similar to 123people, and so I do buy their line of “we just trawl the net is all.” The difference between those other websites and these people is that (a) they appear to be getting personal information in somewhat shady ways, and (b) I’ve always been able to easily remove my information from other web information trawlers–there’s always been a link or some type of information provided on those websites with delete information directions for users who don’t want their personal information displayed. This website appears to ignore and/or fight with you when you request to have information removed from their pages. I mean, I don’t care that it’s out there; I just don’t want it to be so frickin’ easy for potentially crazy people to access.
Plus, they’re clearly in it to make money. If you want the rest of the person’s home phone number or public records, you have to pay. Why am I not allowed to at least request to have my home address hidden? I really don’t understand why they’re making it so easy for potential stalkers…my entire home address is listed on this website. My identity could be robbed, my house could be broken into, my child could be hurt. This is unethical on so many levels.
And at least one representative’s (or someone claiming to be a representative of their organization) behavior in this comment section was so trollish. That just makes me more determined to seek legal action if my information isn’t removed.
Regarding the comment posted by 123people’s ‘Maja’, that once information is deleted at source it will no longer be displayed by them…
NOT SO!
Information about my addresses past and present (from the Electoral Roll) and previously available on the 192.com website was removed by them over a year ago at my request. However 123people currently display this in a search on my (very unusual) name.
They are proving to be a nightmare to communicate with in my quest to have this removed. Their claims that they only display information that is currently publicly available is simply not true. Outright lies. Something fishy going on…
Update to above comment:
123people.com claim to have “restricted the link” to the information they held and displayed about my name. They have not explained what this means. What is clear is it does not mean they have removed the information I objected to – it is still displayed as before.
This should not be there at all as it was deleted at source last year.
Therefore my issue with them has not been resolved. Incredibly however, my efforts to contact them further about this have been quashed, as every email I send them now (whether a new email or a reply to them) is returned to me as undelivered.
What sort of company is this?
I will be writing them tonight and telling them to remove my info. This is an invasion of privacy and I speak for everyone here! I’m just glad I’m not on spokeo. I don’t know how I dodged that one. But 123people, remove my info, NOW!!!!!
this website is a discusting waste with no real purpose theyve added me to the database before id ever heard of it and shown a proffesional copywrited picture of me with a link to my facebook my emails have been ignored and im seriously thinking of taking it further
Hello all,
I do not understand why it is hard to understand that 123people is a free real time search service that finds information that is publicly available on the Internet. 123people enables users to check and control their digital footprint and find out what personal information is publicly available on the web. We do not store any person related profiles or information and we are not able to distinguish and separate between different people displayed in our search results, only between names. We comply and are registered under the Austrian Data Protection Laws as we are based in Vienna, Austria.
Once you check on our site which information concerning you is public, you can go to the source of the information in question and remove it.
Once the information is removed from the original source, it will cease to appear 123people and on the Internet. But please understand that after removing information from the original source, there is a possibility that the information still appears on our web site if it is temporarily stored on other search engines cache.
If you however would like the obsolete link or any other link concerning you not to appear anymore on 123people search results, please send it to our CS e-mail address (searchsupport@123people.com) and we will restrict it immediately.
Please visit our web site for detailed information and screenshots about how to identify the links appearing on 123people:
http://www.123people.at/page/reputation
Kind regards,
Maja Ivica Harvey
123people Customer Service Manager
I highly doubt this. My information is publicly viewable by anyone. My current, and past addresses. I have NEVER put this information on any site publicly. I only use them on sites, such as banks and medical areas, where your information is PRIVATE. So I highly doubt that your company just gleaned this from “somewhere on the net”. Also, on my page you have no link as to where you got the information from. So… how do I know where to get to the original source to remove it? Your company accessed the information, it should be able to remove it.
When I search my name in google, the only results I find for myself are from a news article that I was in (the reporter only asked my name, not my information), and your website. So I fail to see how your company managed to just “glean stuff from the internet” about me, when I can’t even do so.
I am particularly upset about this because I have a stalker, and thanks to this website, they now probably know my new address, meaning it is probably no longer safe for me to live here. But you’ll just give him my new place, right?
I very recently moved, and have only given this address to my bank, and for current bills. So who did your company buy the information from?
I doubt that this is a legal practice.
There are lots of reputation companies about. Only one sticks out with results and people behind them. I have used them twice and the results are just fine. Clydestan, http://www.clydestan.com No problems, would recommend anytime.
Hello Mark,
I must repeat myself once more here.
123people shows you which information about you is publicly available and even gives you the source of the information. You should go to the source, remove information from there and the information in question will not appear anymore on the Internet!
Regards, Maja
123people is pointless the site gives you results for other names and not the one you are searching for. Found this out when doing research. Also I don’t believe they are in real time. I really don’t care for this site at all. Finally, I agree with other posters they don’t care about peoples privacy. 123PEOPLE EMPLOYEES DON’T HAVE SOULS AND I HOPE THEY GO OUT OF BUSINESS.
Dear Jenna,
I don’t know if other people at 123people have souls or not, i didn’t checked it so far, so i can speak only for myself. I definitely don’t have a soul. I can’t remember i have ever had one, but if you think that’s so important to have one, can you please tell me where can i buy one?
Thanks,
Luca
forgot buying a soul… if you’re really looking to buy something that doesn’t belong to you, you can try this site called 123people.com and buy some personal information on any random stranger from a group of gypsy internet merchants who hide behind a ridiculous claim that they are helping bring old friends back together.
lol
Luca Sartoni,
Your post gives a perfect example of the kind of uncaring sarcastic person that works at 123people.com. I am grateful for you showing the rest of the world what type of people work at 123people.com which makes my comment warrented.
Jenna Taylor
@Jenna: i told you i’m speaking for myself, not for other people.
I care, and I care a lot, but yes i’m definitely sarcastic. Especially when someone puts in doubt the integrity and the moral aspect of my collegues and friends.
We are a company and a very close group of friends, we deliver the best product we can and we care about our users. We are fully compliant with law and everyone of us is fully committed in delivering the best to our customers. For this reason i’m sarcastic when someone puts in doubt our integrity as persons.
You are totally in right of disliking our service, you are in right of criticize our website, but it’s definitely unrespectful to discuss about our soul. Don’t you think so?
Maja, you’re completely missing the point. YES, we’re all aware that this info is coming from other sources online. We get it.
What you’re not understanding is that you people are digging up and offering out that information to people who may otherwise not be internet savvy enough to find it on their own. That is the problem and if you continue to look the other way on this, then you are just as wrong as the company you represent.
Maja, how would you like it if I dug up your personal info/phone number and sold it to anyone that would be willing to pay what I was asking? I’d really like an answer this please..
Hello Anthony,
If I realized that my private home-phone number can be found at 123people, it would be then very clear to me that it can be found on the Internet by some other random people. I would then go to the Phone Book source and request the removal of my personal information. The number will then not appear on 123people and on any other search engines.
Don’t you see the positive side of 123people?!? Thanks to our search service you can realize which of your personal information is publicly available. We even provide you with the source of every information so you can yourself remove it from there.
Have a lovely day,
Maja
Hahaha, this is the best thing I have ever heard! So the only added value you provide is that we can check what is publicly available and remove it?
Well, if your website didn’t exist, nobody would see it anyway…
That’s ridiculous.
Maja, you’re still providing a very easy way for unscrupulous types to find all of our information in one convenient place, no matter how you try to spin it. I have recently sent a request to delete my MySpace account (a site that has become horse dung anyway), so that should eliminate the problem of my photos being viewable on 123people. Now some other types of information… bullshit sites like Intelius and PeopleSearch tap into public records in order to list that stuff for a fee. I have tried numerous times to have that removed to no avail. What exactly are we to do then? Huh? You are largely contributing to the problem.
Update… I have deleted my rarely-used MySpace account, yet my photo from said account remains on 123people. What gives? This is not making your claims look very credible.
123 people took down links to my personal information that had been removed from other sights. And they did it in 2-3 days. Just follow the Maja’s instructions above. Thanks!
Oops, OK. To be fair, my photo has since been removed. Apparently the database needed to be refreshed.
Hackers need to start tearing apart 123people – I’ve seen several calls online to do so. I don’t know if what they’re doing is illegal, but it’s immoral. Probably run out of Austria by a bunch of snaggle-tooth two-bit Slavic hoodlums from some dump-of-a-former Soviet bloc country. Right, Maja?
I emailed 123people and requested that they remove all my details and pictures of me with my 2 year old son as it’s clearly an invasion of privacy. They responded by telling me they take any images they find from Google and as my profile picture at the time was of me and my son, they used it. The thing is, now my profile picture has changed, they haven’t changed the one they display, they just keep saving them and adding to the pictures they already have. They say that if google can show them then it’s not their fault because they have a system that grabs them from google image search.. Bell ends. They need to get a life. Charging people for extra info that they haven’t actually got?? Surely that’s illegal????
Wonderful blog you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics talked about in
this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get suggestions from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!