Open dataset

Everything public on Verified Handles in one download: every live entry with its official handles and identifiers, and where each one came from. It is free to use for anything, under CC0.

The latest snapshot is from 2026-10-17: 155,480 entries and 708,064 handles and identifiers.

Download

These addresses always give the newest snapshot. The JSON Lines file has one entry per line, with its handles inside it; the two CSV files hold the same data as a table of entries and a table of handles, joined by vhid.

The snapshot of 2026-10-17
File	What it is	Size
`verified-handles-2026-10-17.jsonl.gz`	JSON Lines, gzip	26.7 MB
`verified-handles-2026-10-17-entries.csv.gz`	CSV of the entries, gzip	11.4 MB
`verified-handles-2026-10-17-handles.csv.gz`	CSV of the handles, gzip	13.2 MB
`verified-handles-2026-10-17.croissant.json`	Croissant metadata (JSON-LD)	17 kB
`verified-handles-2026-10-17.README.md`	README	6 kB

The Croissant metadata describes the files for machine-learning tools. For one entry at a time, or the data as it is right now, use the API.

Earlier snapshots

2026-10-10: JSON Lines, entries CSV, handles CSV (155,076 entries)

What is in it

Every live, public entry: its VHID, short name, name, one-line description, kind, Wikidata item, and whether it is verified or claimed.
Every handle and identifier the entry lists, where it links, and where it came from: Wikidata, a Verified Handles editor, or a proposal a reviewer approved.
Descriptions written on Verified Handles itself (see below).
The entry’s image, as its address, licence and credit only.

What is left out

Blocked, deleted and merged-away entries.
Descriptions taken from Wikipedia (most descriptions on the site), and any description not written on Verified Handles.
Email addresses.
Restricted and withdrawn images, and every image but the entry’s lead.
Edit history, hidden revisions and notes.
Anything about accounts: who edited, proposed, reviewed or claimed an entry, and IP addresses.

Descriptions are partial

Most descriptions on the site are taken from Wikipedia and stay under Wikipedia’s licence, so they are not in the dataset. A description is included only when it was written on Verified Handles, by an editor or in a proposal a reviewer approved, and carries no Wikipedia credit: 464 in the latest snapshot.

Licence

The dataset is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication). You may copy it, change it and use it for any purpose, commercial or not, without asking. A link back to Verified Handles is welcome but not required.

Images are the one exception: the dataset lists an entry’s image by its address, licence and credit, and the image itself stays under its own licence.

How often it is updated

A new snapshot is made every week. Each stays at its own dated address while it is one of the newest 4; the addresses above always give the newest.

Fields

Entries: one row per entry, and each line of the JSON Lines file
Field	What it is
`vhid`	The entry’s permanent 11-digit Verified Handles ID.
`short`	The entry’s short name (its friendly URL), if it has one.
`url`	The entry’s page on Verified Handles.
`title`	The name the entry is listed under.
`subtitle`	The one-line description under the name.
`type`	What the subject is: person, organization, …
`kind`	A finer kind (musical_group, company, …), if known.
`qid`	The subject’s Wikidata item (Q-number), if linked.
`verified`	Whether Verified Handles has checked the handles with the subject.
`claimed`	Whether the subject has claimed the entry and looks after it.
`created_at`	When the entry was created (the 2026 import date for older entries).
`updated_at`	When the entry last changed.
`description`	A description written on Verified Handles, as HTML; empty for most entries (see “Descriptions”).
`description_source`	Who wrote the description: editor or submission.
`image_url`	The entry’s image on Verified Handles, if it has a public one.
`image_source`	Where the image comes from: wikimedia_commons or upload.
`image_license`	The image’s licence. Images are not CC0: reuse one under its own licence.
`image_license_url`	The licence’s text.
`image_credit`	Who to credit for the image.
`image_source_page`	The image’s file page on Wikimedia Commons.
`handle_count`	How many handles and identifiers the entry lists (the handles file’s rows for it).

Handles: one row per handle, and each item of an entry’s handles
Field	What it is
`vhid`	The entry it belongs to.
`platform`	The platform’s id: twitter, instagram, viaf, …
`platform_name`	The platform’s name.
`category`	social, messaging, website or identifier.
`value`	The handle or identifier, as listed.
`display`	A label shown instead of the value, if any.
`url`	Where it links.
`verified`	Whether this handle has been checked with the subject.
`source`	Where it came from: wikidata, editor (a Verified Handles editor, or the subject on a claimed entry), submission (a proposal a reviewer approved) or legacy (the wiki before 2026).

Cite this dataset

JEM Media (2026). Verified Handles: official handles and identifiers of notable people and organisations [Data set], snapshot of 2026-10-17. (DOI to be assigned when the dataset is first published on Zenodo)

A DOI will be given here once the dataset is published on Zenodo.

@dataset{verified_handles_2026_10_17,
  author    = {{JEM Media}},
  title     = {Verified Handles: official handles and identifiers of notable people and organisations},
  year      = {2026},
  version   = {2026-10-17},
  publisher = {JEM Media},
  url       = {https://verifiedhandles.org/data},
  note      = {CC0 1.0},
}