People search is an activity, which is carried out in the process of organizing class reunions, ancestry tracing (ancestor) or establishing inheritants. Often a contact to some living person is lost or someone is willing to discover their family history by searching into the past of their forefathers. In case the fact of localizing the person must remain secret, a detective is charged with the task. Otherwise one can turn themselves for help to a people search agency.
Sometimes the term „people search" is also applied in relation to attempts to find individuals regarded as missing (missing person).
As first step in the process of people search all known data referring to the person to be found are carefully gathered and investigated, since hypotetically every piece of information represents an important cue characterizing the individuality and inimitability of the lost person. As indispensable sources of information in this case serve the family circle and close acquaintances and friends.