Technology giant Google is using its search experience to help people find friends and relatives who have been missing since the earthquake in Haiti. Using the Google person finder, anyone can upload details of missing people, which is then cross-checked against information uploaded on those who have been found dead, alive or injured.
Many 'people finding' services have been set up by media and aid organisations, however their own success has undermined their usefulness - with so many sites, data on survivors is spread across the Internet.
According to the Telegraph, Google hopes their website will serve as a central point to help the millions of expatriate Haitians find information on friends or family who still live there. The New York Times has already agreed to pass its own information to Google, and urged others to do likewise in a blog post.
Developed by volunteers, the person finder can also be embedded on websites - the US State Department has already added the widget to their page on the crisis.
If you have information on survivors, or want to try and find information on friends or family in Haiti, you will find the people finder at https://haiticrisis.appspot.com/. Those wishing to embed the widget will find a link to the code at the bottom of the same page.
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