Mira CalderChoose the DeepSearch mode that matches the strongest input you already have. Use Name for a person plus context, Username for an exact handle, Email or Phone for the complete identifier, Reverse image for reuse, Photo location for where a photo was taken, Company for a business entity and VIN for a 17-character vehicle identifier.
Lookup-type decision table
| Mode | Best starting input | Useful for | Important limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Full public name plus city, employer, role, school or known handle | Finding and separating public identity candidates | A name alone does not establish identity |
| Username | Exact handle, optionally focused on selected platforms | Finding public accounts and cross-links | The same handle can have different owners on different platforms |
| Complete email address | Public web associations, domain context, public account signals and named exposure incidents | No inbox, password, message or breached-record contents | |
| Phone | Complete number with country code | Number validity, country, carrier or line type, public mentions and available association signals | No call or message contents; an allocation region is not live location |
| Reverse image | Original image file or direct image URL | Finding exact reuse, copies, source pages and visually similar images | No facial recognition or identity from a face |
| Photo location | Original photo with metadata where possible | Inspecting EXIF and estimating broad location from visible cues | An estimate is not live device location or proof of where a person is |
| Company | Legal or trading name, jurisdiction, domain or registry clue | Separating entities and reviewing public corporate records and web evidence | Similar company names and subsidiaries must remain separate |
| VIN | Exact 17-character VIN | Vehicle decoding, specifications, recalls and safety information | It does not reveal the private owner |
| Deep Search | A bounded natural-language research question | Comparing public sources across a topic, person, company or vehicle | Tool availability and permitted inputs differ by product surface |
Use Name when the subject is a person, not an identifier
Name search is the broadest person lookup and therefore produces the most ambiguity. Add one known public disambiguator and review candidate cards before opening a profile. If the name is common, follow the common-name workflow.
Do not use Name merely because you hope the system will infer a private phone or email address. Start from the identifier only when you already possess it lawfully and the task requires it.
Use Username for an exact public handle
Username search is usually better than Name when a rare, stable handle is known. Platform focus can narrow discovery, but a handle collision remains possible. Confirm ownership through public cross-links, biography details, timeline and other independent signals.
Use Email and Phone for exact identifiers
Enter the entire email address or an internationally formatted phone number. These modes can pivot from a known identifier into public or licensed category signals. They cannot prove that the person who originally registered the identifier still controls it today.
For a suspicious caller, combine Phone with the unknown-number workflow. For an email, see how to find out who owns an email address.
If you believe a caller is impersonating a South African regulator or service provider, report suspected fraud to ICASA and to your nearest police station. For telecommunications service quality complaints (network coverage, dropped calls, line installation, activation, transfer, suspension, ADSL or mobile-number portability), first lodge a complaint with your service provider, obtain a reference number and allow 14 working days for resolution before escalating to ICASA at consumer@icasa.org.za or fax 012 568 3444, following ICASA's consumer complaints procedure.
Choose between the two image modes
Use Reverse image when the question is "Where else does this image appear?" It compares the image with publicly indexed images and returns source pages or similar results.
Use Photo location when the question is "What can this photo itself tell me about where it may have been taken?" It can inspect available metadata and visual cues such as signs, terrain, architecture or road features. Treat the output as a hypothesis to verify with maps and primary evidence.
Neither mode identifies a person from their facial features. For image-origin work, see how to find the original source of a photo or video.
Treat location details as context
Use a known city or region to narrow a name search, then verify any public location details against their sources. DeepSearch does not provide a direct window into a device, utility account or private address database. A shared name, household relationship, former address or copied directory record can produce a misleading association. Verify the source and date, and do not use it to locate or pressure someone who does not want contact.
Use Company for the legal entity
Company search keeps businesses on a separate entity path. Add a jurisdiction, official domain, company number or director name when the trading name is generic. Confirm whether a source describes the parent, subsidiary, dissolved entity or current operating company before combining records.
Use VIN for the vehicle
A VIN must be 17 characters and does not use the letters I, O or Q. VIN mode can decode the vehicle and connect it to vehicle-specific safety data. It should not be used as a shortcut to identify a private owner.
South African vehicle licensing forms require chassis number or VIN details, but comprehensive public vehicle history checks or owner-identity lookups are not established as publicly available services. Verify what vehicle information is accessible through official channels before relying on third-party sources.
Use Deep Search for a question across sources
Choose Deep Search when the output should be a cited report rather than one lookup record. State the subject, question, time period, geography and evidence standard. The MPP specification, for example, documents its supported subject types and explicitly says it does not offer reverse-image, email-as-query, phone-as-query or precise-location lookup. That is why the surface must be identified before describing coverage.
The product scope guide explains the source and access boundaries shared across these choices.
When collecting or processing personal information in South Africa, remember that the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) requires data subjects to be informed of what is being collected, the source if not collected directly, the collector's identity and address, the purpose and retention period, whether supply is voluntary or mandatory, consequences of non-provision, and the right to access, rectify and object to processing. Data subjects may object to processing by submitting Form 1 to the responsible party if they can show legitimate grounds for objection. Complaints alleging unlawful interference with personal information must be submitted in writing to the Information Regulator using Form 5, available online or via email to POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za. The Regulator will not accept complaints where the cause of action arose before 1 July 2021, or complaints lodged more than three years after the claim arose. General enquiries can be made toll-free at 0800 017 160 or via the eServices Portal.