Reverse face search

Background checks: where photo search stops

A photo cannot pull criminal or court records. What a face search can do is show where someone’s face appears online, which helps you confirm a name before you run a formal check.

No photo handy?See an example report

Different questions require different evidence

An image result may show where a picture appears or suggest a visual resemblance. A background check concerns records associated with a correctly identified individual and a defined purpose. Combining these without verification risks attaching another person’s information to the subject.

Do not infer a record from appearance

A portrait may be used as an illustration. A page may describe several people. Names can overlap and source information can be outdated or wrong. Even a close resemblance cannot establish that a record belongs to a particular person.

Facehunch does not search official criminal records, authenticate qualifications or determine eligibility for employment, housing or credit. Do not use its results for those decisions.

Choose the appropriate route

For a qualification, use the issuing organisation’s verification process. For regulated screening, seek an appropriate provider and qualified guidance about the requirements in the relevant jurisdiction. Consent, permissible use and dispute rights can depend on the decision and location.

For personal safety in an online interaction, focus on behaviour, clear boundaries and independently verified contact routes. A private meeting decision should not depend on a supposedly clean photo-search report.

If information about you is wrong

Save the exact record reference and a description of the incorrect association. Use the responsible organisation’s correction procedure and track downstream copies separately. Do not post identity documents publicly to prove an error.

Our guides explain how to keep observations separate from inferences and how to organise correction requests. Facehunch’s main search returns similarity leads, not verified records. Its separate limited API test is only a workflow demonstration. Neither substitutes for either process.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can you do a background check with just a picture?

Not a real one. A face or image search can show public pages where a photo or similar face appears. Background checks rely on records tied to a verified name and date of birth, usually with the person's consent.

What is a face background check?

The phrase usually means a face search: finding other public photos of a face. It does not search criminal, court or credit records, and a result should never be used for hiring, renting or lending decisions.

What should I use instead?

For employment or tenancy screening, use a regulated screening provider and follow the consent rules where you live. For online-dating safety, combine a photo check with a video call and the catfish check steps.

Find where a face appears online.

Upload a photo, get every matching page with its link and a similarity score. $9 per search, no subscription.

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