Interpol Black Notice

What Is an Interpol Black Notice?

A Black Notice serves as an international request for information that may help establish the identity of a deceased person.

The notice may be useful where a body is discovered without reliable identity documents, relatives cannot be located or available forensic information produces no match in national databases. Police in other countries can compare the notice against missing-person records, fingerprints, DNA profiles and other identification data.

Article 91 of INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data sets three core conditions. The discovery of the body must have been recorded by police, the person must remain unidentified, and the request must contain enough information about the body or the circumstances of discovery to support identification. The notice must include at least a good-quality photograph, fingerprints or a DNA profile.

How Is a Black Notice Issued?

A member country normally submits the request through its National Central Bureau. The INTERPOL General Secretariat checks whether the request complies with the Organization’s Constitution and Rules on the Processing of Data before publishing it in the secure Notices database. Notices are then available for consultation by authorized authorities in member countries.

The rules do not state that every possible national identification method must be exhausted before a request can be made. The requesting authority must provide sufficient identifiers and confirm that the body has not been identified.

Information Contained in a Black Notice

The available data depend on the condition of the remains and the work completed by forensic specialists. A Black Notice may include:

• estimated age, sex, height and physical characteristics;
• photographs or facial reconstruction images;
• fingerprints and palm prints;
• a DNA profile;
• dental information;
• tattoos, scars, implants and other identifying features;
• clothing, jewellery and personal belongings;
• the place, date and circumstances of discovery;
• forensic details relevant to identification.

INTERPOL requires enough information to make an international comparison possible. A photograph, fingerprint record or DNA profile can satisfy the minimum identification requirement under Article 91.

Cause and manner of death may also appear where they are relevant to the investigation, although the central purpose remains identification.

How Black Notices Support Investigations

Identifying a deceased person may resolve several connected legal and investigative issues.

A match with a missing-person report can provide answers to relatives and allow national authorities to close or redirect an investigation. In a suspected homicide, establishing the victim’s identity can reveal travel history, relationships, previous threats and possible motives.

Identification may also assist investigations into human trafficking, organized crime or migrant smuggling when the deceased travelled through several countries. The Black Notice provides a structured way to obtain comparisons from foreign police services.

INTERPOL’s rules permit data concerning deceased persons to be stored for identification, for understanding a criminal case or event, and for crime-analysis purposes. The data may remain in the system only for the period strictly required for those purposes.

Operation Identify Me

Operation Identify Me shows how Black Notices can support public appeals in selected cases.

INTERPOL initially worked with police in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, later expanding the initiative to France, Italy and Spain. The campaign concerns women whose bodies were found in Europe and whose identities remained unknown after extensive investigations. INTERPOL issued a Black Notice for each victim and released selected public extracts, including facial reconstructions and images of distinctive belongings.

The initiative has produced several successful identifications through fingerprints, DNA analysis, public tips and recognition of personal features. These results demonstrate how international police cooperation and carefully managed public appeals can generate new evidence in long-running cases.

Are Black Notices Public?

Most INTERPOL Notices remain restricted to police use. Authorized authorities access them through INTERPOL’s secure systems, including the I-24/7 communications network.

Public disclosure may occur when the requesting country wants assistance from the public. Operation Identify Me is one example. INTERPOL released selected extracts while keeping other investigative and forensic information within police channels.

This approach protects sensitive data and the dignity of the deceased while allowing the publication of details that may lead to identification.

What Happens After the Person Is Identified?

The national authority responsible for the notice should inform INTERPOL when the identity has been confirmed and update the related records.

INTERPOL’s rules require data concerning deceased persons to be retained only for as long as the relevant identification, investigative or analytical purpose continues. In practice, identification should trigger a review of the notice. Data may still be required where a homicide or another criminal investigation remains active.

The identification can also create separate legal matters for the family, including:

• formal registration of death;
• repatriation of remains;
• inheritance proceedings;
• insurance and compensation claims;
• participation in a criminal investigation;
• access to case documents under national law.

These matters are handled by the competent national authorities and courts rather than by INTERPOL.

Can a Black Notice Be Challenged?

Because the notice concerns an unidentified deceased person, the usual challenge process differs from cases involving living subjects of Red, Blue or Green Notices.

Relatives who believe that a notice concerns their missing family member should contact the police authority responsible for the missing-person report. The relevant National Central Bureau can coordinate the comparison with INTERPOL and the country where the body was discovered.

A living person whose own personal information has been mistakenly linked to a Black Notice may request access, correction or deletion through the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, subject to the CCF’s admissibility requirements.

Since 26 March 2026, new CCF applications must be submitted through the secure online portal. The CCF reviews personal data processed in INTERPOL’s Information System and can order implementation of a correction or deletion when the processing does not comply with INTERPOL’s rules. It cannot conduct the underlying criminal or forensic investigation.

Possible data issues may include an incorrect DNA association, mistaken fingerprint match, inaccurate family information or confusion between two people with similar identifiers.

Our Legal Assistance

Our international legal team can assist in matters connected with Black Notices and unidentified deceased persons, including:

• advising families on communication with police and National Central Bureaus;
• coordinating enquiries in several countries;
• reviewing forensic and identification documents;
• addressing an incorrect association with a living person;
• preparing an admissible CCF request where personal data are affected;
• assisting with inheritance, compensation and repatriation issues after identification;
• arranging representation in a related criminal investigation.

Legal advice cannot guarantee identification or disclosure of confidential police information. The available steps depend on the quality of the records, national law and the authorities responsible for the investigation.

Contact us for a confidential assessment if a Black Notice may concern your missing relative, your personal data have been linked to an unidentified body, or an identification has created legal issues in several jurisdictions.