Facial Search API for Identity Verification
Submit a face image and receive matched online profiles, linked names, web presence, and identity consistency signals — all in a single structured API call. Built for KYC, fraud prevention, OSINT, and risk enrichment workflows that start with a photo.
From a Face Image to a Full Identity Signal Set
Submit a face image URL or base64 payload and receive matched profiles across the web with confidence scores, linked names and URLs, impersonation risk flags, and an overall identity consistency score — in a single API response.
Image Matching
Search the web for publicly available images visually similar to the submitted face. Returns matched profiles ranked by confidence score — from highest probability matches down to lower-confidence associations.
Profile Discovery
For each matched face, returns the associated profile URLs, platform names, linked usernames, and public page information. Surfaces the breadth of a person's digital presence from a single image input.
Impersonation Check
Detects cases where the same face image appears under multiple conflicting identities — a strong indicator of account impersonation, identity fraud, or synthetic profile creation across platforms.
Web Presence
Returns all public web pages and domains where the matched face has appeared. Builds a complete map of the subject's online footprint — from professional profiles to social media to news appearances.
Identity Consistency
Scores how consistently the matched face appears under the same name and identity across sources. Low consistency scores indicate conflicting identities, possible impersonation, or use of a stolen photo.
Confidence Score
Each match is assigned a confidence score between 0 and 1 representing the visual similarity between the submitted image and the matched profile photo. Returns best_confidence for the top result and per-match scores for all results.
What You Send
Submit the face image as a URL or base64 payload. Only the image and API key are required — the lookup ID scopes optional result filtering.
Face Image
A direct URL to a publicly accessible JPEG or PNG image, or a base64-encoded image payload. The image should clearly show a face. Minimum recommended resolution is 128×128 pixels.
API Key
Your ClearCheck Data API key is passed in the request body. Always kept server-side and never exposed in frontend code or client-side JavaScript.
Lookup ID
The lookupId parameter scopes the search to a specific data source group. Refer to the API documentation for available lookup IDs and their coverage scope.
Responsible Use Notice: Facial search and image-based identity enrichment must only be used for lawful purposes — including fraud detection, KYC, identity verification, and legitimate investigative workflows. Use must comply with applicable biometric data privacy laws, GDPR, CCPA, and any applicable industry regulations. Customers are solely responsible for ensuring lawful and ethical use of this API.
What You Get Back
Every completed facial search returns a structured JSON record with all matched profiles, confidence scores, linked identities, and impersonation flags.
Submit, Receive, Poll, Parse
The facial search runs through an async enrichment pipeline. Submit the image, hold the job ID, and poll when ready — your backend keeps processing without waiting on the search to complete.
Submit Face Image
POST an image URL or base64 payload with your API key and lookup_type "face". The image should be a clear JPEG or PNG of a face.
Receive Job ID
The API responds immediately with a numeric job ID and status "progress". No waiting required — your workflow continues immediately.
Poll for Completion
Query the monitor endpoint using the job ID. When status changes to "completed", all matched profiles and confidence scores are ready.
Use the Results
Parse matched_profiles for profile URLs, check impersonation flag, read consistency_score for identity analysis, and feed linked_names to name lookup for further enrichment.
How to Make a Facial Search Call
Send one POST request with the face image URL and your API key. Get a job ID back immediately — no waiting. Poll once to pick up the full set of matched profiles when the search is complete.
Set lookup_type to face and pass the image either as an image_url pointing to a publicly accessible JPEG or PNG, or as a base64 payload in image_base64.
Docs are currently on our existing portal and will move to the ClearCheck Data portal soon.
// 1. Submit facial search POST /api/developer/combined_face Content-Type: application/json { "key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "lookup_type": "face", "image_url": "https://example.com/photo.jpg", "lookupId": 93 } // 2. Initial response { "id": 7738204, "status": "progress" } // 3. Poll for result GET /api/request-monitor/api-usage/7738204 // 4. Completed response { "match_count": 8, "best_confidence": 0.97, "impersonation": false, "identity_score": 0.91, "matched_profiles": [...] }
Who Uses Facial Search and Why
Facial search is a high-value enrichment signal for identity verification, fraud prevention, and investigation workflows where a photo is the primary available identifier.
KYC & Onboarding
During document-based KYC, compare the applicant's submitted photo against their online presence. A face that doesn't match any public records under the claimed name is a strong identity risk signal.
Fraud Prevention
Detect stolen photo fraud — where bad actors use someone else's image as their profile photo. Impersonation detection flags faces found under multiple conflicting identities for immediate investigation.
OSINT & Investigations
Start an investigation with just a photo. Facial search maps the subject's online presence, surfaces linked usernames and profile URLs, and builds an identity picture for further enrichment with Name or Email Lookup.
E-commerce Verification
For high-value or high-risk transactions, a facial search of the submitted account photo adds an extra identity confidence layer — confirming the user is who they claim to be against their public online identity.
Risk Orchestration
Integrate facial search results into your broader risk scoring pipeline. Feed identity_score and impersonation flag into your decision engine to automatically route applicants based on biometric identity confidence.
Marketing & CRM
For legitimate outreach and influencer enrichment use cases, facial search surfaces linked social profiles from a known photo — helping marketing teams understand a contact's full social media presence from a single image.