Using Tags

What are tags?

Tags hold additional information about a person and their attributes. Examples of tags associated with a given person include:

  • Information about a their holdings such as auto models (auto make, VIN)
  • Skills and interests
  • Domains they own
  • Number of Twitter followers / users they follow

Tags returned in the Pipl API response contain data that do not fit into the person object model. Tags are classified based on the type of information they contain, and the content may be unstructured free text.

How to Enable Tags

Tags may appear in individual source objects in the source array. To see tags in the response, make sure that the sources layer is enabled by using the show_sources parameter in the search request (with the relevant value for your use case).

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NOTE

You can't use tags as input into search queries, or with the match requirement field.

Popular tag classifications

Use the following table to assist you in discovering popular tag classifications.

Tag DataSource Name(s)Tag classification(s)Sample value(s)
Professional credentials and accomplishmentsLinkedInskill, course, group, volunteeringMicrosoft Office
Python developers unite
Social media follower and following countTwitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, Soundcloud, Github, Vimeo, VK, Foursquare, Academia, Medium, Stravafollowing, followers212
44
Vehicle informationAuto Owner*auto year, auto make, auto model, auto vin2013
FORD
MONDEO 1ABC21Z39EF90123
Website ownership informationDomain Owner*associated domainwww.thiscoolwebsite.com
Death informationDeceased Residents, FindAGravedeath date, deceased, burial address2003-11-20
Home ownership informationResidential Property, Trust Propertylast_sale_date, apn, type2020-05-25
12-07980-00G-009-00-00
estate
NPI (National Provider Identifier)NPPES NPI Registrynppes_npi_licenseLicense Number: MD463765 | Registered State: TN | Taxonomy Classification: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians | Taxonomy Specialization: Pediatrics
Marriage and divorce dataUS Marriage Records, US Divorce Recordsmarriage_date, divorce_date2019-03

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NOTE

* For certain sources, the source name may not be exactly as specified in the table above, but may be similarly named. Check that the string contains the content, and do a case insensitive comparison.

Example

This example illustrates how tags may appear in a source object in the sources array. This includes different classifications of tags such as skill, group and auto make.

"sources": [
        {
            "@id": "4275e03c9c99953245c426dd74cd61c5", 
            "@category": "professional_and_business", 
            "@name": "LinkedIn", 
            "@origin_url": "http://www.linkedin.com/in/theman", 
            "@domain": "linkedin.com", 
            "@person_id": "a0f13c3c-bcd9-4133-979c-9f2ba05decf8", 
            "@match": 1.0, 
            "names": [....
            ], 
            "usernames": [....
            ],  
            "tags": [
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-09-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2016-08-26", 
                    "@classification": "skill", 
                    "content": "Microsoft Office"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-09-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2016-08-26", 
                    "@classification": "skill", 
                    "content": "Python"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-09-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2016-08-26", 
                    "@classification": "group", 
                    "content": "Python developers unite"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2016-01-22", 
                    "@last_seen": "2016-08-26", 
                    "@classification": "volunteering", 
                    "content": "Chef at Home for the Homeless"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2016-07-22", 
                    "@last_seen": "2016-08-26", 
                    "@classification": "course", 
                    "content": "Python for pros"
                },
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@classification": "auto make", 
                    "content": "FORD"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@classification": "auto model", 
                    "content": "MONDEO"
                }, 
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@last_seen": "2017-06-01", 
                    "@classification": "auto vin", 
                    "content": "1ABC21Z39EF90123"
                },
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2018-04-15",
                    "@classification": "marriage_date",
                    "content": "2018-04"
                }
                              {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-02-05",
                    "@classification": "home_owner_lives_in_property",
                    "content": "True"
                },
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-02-05",
                    "@classification": "last_sale_date",
                    "content": "2015-02-05"
                },
                {
                    "@valid_since": "2015-02-05",
                    "@classification": "apn",
                    "content": "0500667"
                }

            ]