Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the objective of MISSING.NET ?
MISSING.NET is the engine for global search of people lost after natural disasters. It helps to optimize the mobilization of witnesses and actors who intervene in the situations of emergency by centralizing all testimonies and information.
This web platform makes the search more efficient and thus represents a tool that facilitates the search of potential witnesses (families, NGO, urgency centers, embassies....). It can also serve as a connection tool for families and their lost relatives especially in the first hours after a natural disaster when authorities as well as NGO are occupied by rescue operations.
The advantage of this tool is its simplicity of use and its cross-border character.
MISSING.NET is specialized mainly on the search of people lost after natural disasters.
2. To whom is destined MISSING.NET ?
Any Internet user can have access to MISSING.NET. Any contribution is important and can become decisive in the search of a lost person. Every detail even the one that seems to you insignificant can be crucial.
- Institutions and actors of humanitarian actions: MISSING is a technological tool to facilitate the intervention of field NGO, emergency services, rescue centres, in the first hours after natural disasters.
-Victims of natural and other disasters : MISSING allows to have an unique platform for searching lost relatives.
- Lost people who can declare themselves 'Found' via MISSING.NET and thus inform their relatives about their situation.
The site is available to all via Internet.
To participate actively in MISSING.NET you have to register. If you are not registered you can nevertheless see the profiles of lost people but you can't create the profile of a lost person or give a testimony.
3. What are the steps in the search of lost people ?
Step 1) Consult the list of lost people, the 'facebook' of lost people, or search for a lost person according to more or less detailed criteria.
Step 2) - If the lost person has already a profile, you can complete the information about him in order to facilitate the search. You can also follow his profile and be notified via your Inbox MISSING if new information is available.
- If the lost person does not have his profile, it is necessary to create it by giving as many details as possible.
Step 3) Once the profile is created any information about the lost person will complete his profile in the section 'Testimonies' and notification message will be sent to you via your account MISSING.NET. As a platform aimed at centralizing data, MISSING.NET also joins every information available in the Internet, including social networks.
to give a testimony or to create a profile of a lost person your are obliged to register and to have an account.
4. Do I have to pay for using MISSING.NET ?
NO. MISSING.NET is a global humanitarian search engine of lost people. As the humanitarian tool, it is totally free of charge. You only have to register in order to participate actively.
5. If the lost person is declared 'Found' via MISSING.NET, does the site help us to find a person physically ?
Red Helmets Foundation is aimed at facilitating humanitarian actions by proposing free and innovative services. MISSING is a technological tool, available to the international community for organizing the search that is often poorly organized. This device however does not have material and human resources for searching lost people and does not offer the efficient search in the field. If the person is declared 'Found' via MISSING we advise you to address to the field NGO or rescue centres in order to find the person physically.
6. What data is communicated once the lost person that I have followed is found ?
If you would like to receive more information about the person found, please, address the message to contact@missing.net
7. What to do if I found myself declared lost via MISSING?
You can click on 'Declare found' and enter in contact with the creator of your profile as well as with those who have followed your profile by sending them a message to their Inbox on MISSING.NET.
8. What can I do if I notice that there is wrong information in the profile of the lost person ?
It is possible that some information in the profile of the lost person is contradictory. The idea of MISSING is to gather as much information as possible while creating the profile and by different witnesses at the same time. If you see that the description is wrong, you can't modify the information in the profile created by the other person but we invite you to complete the information and to report the correct information in the 'Testimonies'. These testimonies appear directly in the profile of a lost person.
9. Can I report the inappropriate and suspicious behaviour ?
Yes, any suspicious behaviour can be reported by clicking on 'Declare abuse' in order to guarantee the best reliability of data. Every type of behaviour contrary to the Legal Information and to interior rules can become an object of moderator's sanctions from temporary suspension of an account till the definitive expulsion and delete of the user's account.
10. Does MISSING.NET transmit personal information to other organizations ?
All the information sent via MISSING.NET is covered by confidential agreement. MISSING.NET does not pass on the personal information to the commercial sites. All personal information is deleted 2 months after the delete of a profile. The information is collected on the secure server.
11. Who has created MISSING ?
MISSING.NET was created on the initiative of Red Helmets Foundation in partnership with
Google, Bearstech and European Consulting Services.
12. Does the site reflect a specific political or religious point of view ?
No, MISSING.NET is not affiliated to any current of thought. It's a tool that aimed at facilitating the search of people lost during natural disasters. The objective is to be useful for any victim of humanitarian catastrophe without making difference on ethnical, religious or political origins.
RedHelmets Foundation who initiated this project has the French statute of association under the law 1901, it means that it is a non-profit association of general interest.
13. How can I contribute to the development of MISSING.NET ? To the search of a lost person via MISSING.NET ?
In order to assure the efficiency of the platform MISSING.NET, the largest possible number of actors should be informed about its existence to multiply the testimonies.
Diffuse information about MISSING.NET. The information exchange on the one web platform between the majority of victims, families of victims and organizations will make the search of lost in natural disasters more organized.
Join the search by sharing the information via your social network.
14. Mobile application for the project
Ongoing
15. Does MISSING.NET have a hotline for solving technical problems?
MISSING.NET is a web platform and the personalized follow-up is not provided by our team. If you need more personalized help in searching for your relative, we advise you to address to the embassy or to the NGO specialized on searching lost people.
