# Person monitoring

> Watch one person by name and date of birth across a dataset. Supply a DOB so alerts fire above a confidence floor, and see why a name-only watch is noisier.

- **HTML:** https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring/person-monitoring
- **Base URL:** https://api.offendersearch.app
- **Authentication:** `X-API-Key` request header
- **OpenAPI:** https://offendersearch.app/openapi.json · https://offendersearch.app/openapi.yaml
- **Monitoring reference as markdown:** https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring.md

## Watch one person by name and date of birth

A person monitor stands watch over one identity — a name, and, when you supply it, a date of birth — across the dataset named in `product`. Each day it runs the same matcher the search endpoint uses, and when a matching record appears, changes, or comes off a registry, it delivers an alert.

```json
{
  "product": "sex-offender",
  "type": "person",
  "person": { "firstName": "Jordan", "lastName": "Rivera", "dob": "1988-04-12" },
  "minConfidence": "dob_match",
  "channels": { "email": "alerts@example.com" }
}
```

## Supply a date of birth

A name on its own matches many people, so a name-only monitor is **noisy** — it will alert on every same-named record in the dataset. A date of birth is the strongest identity verifier, and supplying it is the single most effective way to keep a monitor precise. The matcher uses the same match strength labels as search: a `dob` you provide can produce a `dob_match` (the full date agrees) or, where a record publishes only a birth year, a `year_match`.

> **Recommendation:** always send a `dob`. Reserve a name-only monitor for the rare case where you genuinely want every same-named record and will triage the volume yourself.

## minConfidence — the alert floor

A person monitor only fires when identity matches at or above its confidence floor. `minConfidence` sets that floor.

| `minConfidence` | Fires on | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `dob_match` *(default)* | A record whose full date of birth equals the one you registered. | You supplied a DOB and want the tightest, lowest-noise watch. |
| `year_match` | `dob_match`, plus records that agree only on the birth year. | You want to catch records that publish a year but no full date — at the cost of more alerts. |

The `matchLabel` on every alert tells you which strength actually fired, so even under `year_match` you can tell a full-date confirmation from a year-only one.

## What a person monitor watches

- **`product: "sex-offender"`** — the sex-offender dataset. **Live.**
- **`product: "criminal"`** — the criminal-records dataset. **Live.**

Watching one person across **both** datasets is two monitors, billed separately — see [Billing](https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring/billing.md). Each monitor is one product, one predicate, one charge.

## Not a consumer report

A person monitor runs unattended, which makes the FCRA restriction especially important: its alerts may not be used for employment, tenant screening, credit, insurance, or any other FCRA-covered decision. The notice — *Not a consumer report. This information may not be used for any purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).* — accompanies every alert.

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## Related

- Previous: [The Monitor object](https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring/monitor-object.md)
- Next: [Location monitoring](https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring/location-monitoring.md)
- Index: [Monitoring API reference](https://offendersearch.app/docs/monitoring.md)