PeopleSmart Transforms the People Search Landscape With Focus on Privacy and Innovation

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Inflection, LLC, a company focused on reshaping the public records system, today announced its new people search engine, PeopleSmart.com. By combining contact information, public records, and social profiles in a way that respects consumer privacy, PeopleSmart.com aims to change the face of people search. The newly launched property is the latest brand developed by Inflection, a leading aggregator of public records that pools data from hundreds of sources into a state-of-the-art technology platform.

"There is an exponential acceleration happening right now in the amount of data being created and the number of new communication methods we use, but directories and vertical search engines haven't kept pace with this transformation," said Brian Monahan, co-founder of PeopleSmart's parent company, Inflection.  "By focusing on building customer-friendly software and creating a strong culture of innovation, we believe we can be the first to organize, manage, and provide responsible access to this explosion of information."

People search is a large vertical market within online search. According to a recent PEW Internet study titled "Reputation Management and Social Media," 57% of adult internet users now use search engines to find information about themselves online. 46% of Internet users also search online to find information about people from their past, up from 36% in 2006. Prior to now, people search solutions have been fraught with privacy and security concerns. PeopleSmart takes a major step forward in solving many of the problems that have held back people search in the past, including allowing users to manage their own listings, purge sensitive information, prevent spammers from gaining bulk access, and more.

"It's hard to understand all of the important reasons for people search until someone needs it, and until now, this information has been highly fragmented," said Inflection CEO, Matthew Monahan. "We are committed to providing the industry's highest quality data, lowest prices, and most trustworthy service."

PeopleSmart currently features more than 250 million social profiles, 500 million public records, and contact information for a large percentage of U.S. households. The site caters to a wide range of consumer and professional needs, from parents monitoring the safety of their children to alumni planning class reunions.

PeopleSmart brings several new innovations to the people search category, including:

• Email Plugin - Described as "caller ID for your inbox," PeopleSmart's email plugin can be installed directly into users' Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail inboxes so that they can quickly view the sender's social profiles and photos with every email.
• Control of Records - PeopleSmart allows users to manage their listings online, submit corrections, and remove information they don't want shown.
• Courthouse Records - For records which have not yet been digitized, PeopleSmart can send someone into the actual court archives to retrieve and return the records. This process takes 38 hours on average and is available in 47 states.
• Anonymized Emails - As a privacy protection, PeopleSmart.com makes email listings private and relays messages on behalf of its users. Recipients can choose whether they want to reply back to the sender or not hear from them again.
• User-Friendly Designs - The site's design makes practical use of instructional illustrations, such as those found in airline emergency pamphlets and the use of iconography from the internationally respected set of AIGA Symbol Signs, designed for airports, international transportation hubs, and large events.

PeopleSmart offers a free 7-day trial for new members to join the site. To learn more, please visit www.peoplesmart.com

About Inflection, LLC

Inflection is a data and e-commerce company headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley. The company owns and operates Archives.com and PeopleSmart.com, emerging leaders in the family history and people search markets. Inflection was founded in 2006, and is funded by tier one venture capitalists Matrix Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. For more information, please visit www.inflection.com.

SOURCE Inflection, LLC