Are you looking to find out who lives on your street, whether for a professional project or a personal endeavor? The instinct would be to think that a centralized registry exists somewhere. In practice, no public database provides a complete list of residents on a street. However, several methods allow you to gather reliable information, provided you comply with the legal framework.
What the GDPR Allows (and Prohibits) When Searching for Residents
Before any search, a legal point must be addressed. The General Data Protection Regulation strictly governs the collection of personal data in France. A name associated with an address constitutes personal data.
In concrete terms, you cannot create a nominative file of residents without a legal basis. For an individual, curiosity is not enough. For a professional (real estate agent, craftsman, association), a documented legitimate interest can justify the approach, but you must be able to prove it in case of an audit by the CNIL.
This constraint explains why no site offers to freely download a directory by street. The methods described below remain within the legal framework because they rely on data already made public by the individuals themselves or by the administration.
It is entirely possible to reconstruct the list of residents on a street by cross-referencing several open sources, without violating regulations.
Electoral Lists at the Town Hall: An Underutilized Source
Have you ever consulted the electoral lists? Since the revision of the electoral code, any registered voter can request to view the electoral list of their municipality. This list contains the name, first name, date of birth, and address of each voter.
The consultation takes place at the town hall, by appointment in most municipalities. You can take notes, but the town hall has no obligation to provide you with a digital copy. Some municipalities allow a paper copy, others do not.
- The list only includes registered voters, not all residents (minors, non-EU foreigners, and unregistered individuals are absent)
- The commercial use of this data is prohibited: only electoral, associative, or research communications are tolerated
- The request must be made by a registered voter in the same municipality, or by a candidate, a political party, or a researcher
The electoral list remains the only officially accessible nominative source by street. It covers a large majority of adult residents of French nationality.
National Address Database and Public APIs: Addresses, Not Names
The National Address Database (BAN) is often cited as a tool for exploring a street. It references the addresses in French territory, not the people who live there. The distinction matters.
The BAN allows you to verify that an address exists, geolocate it, and know the number of address points on a road. Since the recent technical migration, this database is now operated by the IGN via the Geoplatform, under open license 2.0. The old endpoint hosted on data.gouv.fr is officially deprecated, with decommissioning planned.
The BAN identifies existing addresses, not their occupants. It serves as a foundation for locating a street but must be cross-referenced with other sources to obtain names.
By combining the BAN with the SIRENE API (official business database), you can identify professionals residing at an address. The SIRENE register is publicly accessible and lists individual businesses, whose owner’s name is public. For non-professional residents, this method does not work.
Cross-referencing Directories and the Cadastre to Refine the Search
Online telephone directories (notably the White Pages) remain a basic tool. They only list people who have not requested to be unlisted, which reduces coverage.
Why combine several sources rather than relying on just one? Because each database has its blind spots. The telephone directory ignores people without a declared landline. The electoral list ignores the unregistered. The cadastre, accessible at cadastre.gouv.fr, provides references for parcels and sometimes the name of the owner, but not that of the tenant.
- White Pages: names and addresses of telephone subscribers not unlisted
- Online Cadastre: identification of parcel owners, useful for individual houses
- SIRENE Register: names of owners of individual businesses residing at the address
- Geolocated social networks: some users make their location public, but this method remains random and time-consuming
Cross-referencing three or four open sources covers the majority of residents on a street, without ever achieving completeness. Tenants without a landline, unregistered on electoral lists, and without declared professional activity will remain invisible.
Concrete Limits and Traps to Avoid
Creating a file of residents from these sources is legal as long as the use remains compliant with the GDPR. However, reselling this data, using it for unsolicited commercial solicitation, or publishing it online exposes you to sanctions from the CNIL.
A common trap involves paid services that promise complete lists of residents by street. No private provider has more complete data than public sources. These services aggregate the same directories and open databases, with commercial packaging and sometimes outdated data.
Timeliness reliability is also an issue. A move, a death, a name change: public databases are updated at varying rates. Electoral lists are revised annually. Telephone directories depend on operators’ declarations. The cadastre evolves during property transfers.
The most reliable method remains the combination of the electoral list at the town hall and the online cadastre, supplemented by verification on the directory. This approach takes time, but it produces verifiable results and complies with the legal framework.
