Washington, Oct 1 (IANS): We judge and rate people personally and among a closed group. Now one can rate other human beings publicly, thanks to a forthcoming app.

The app, called "Peeple", would enable the users to assign reviews and one-to-five star ratings to everyone they know: Their exes, co-workers, neighbours.

But don't forget that others would also be rating you. And you can't opt out. Once someone puts your name in the Peeple system, it's there unless you violate the site's terms of service, the Washington Post reported.

Neither can you delete bad or biased reviews as that would defeat the whole purpose.

"People do so much research when they buy a car or make those kinds of decisions. Why not do the same kind of research on other aspects of your life?" Julia Cordray, one of the app's founders, was quoted as saying.

To review someone, you must be 21 and have an established Facebook account and you must make reviews under your real name.

You must also affirm that you "know" the person in one of three categories: personal, professional or romantic.

To add someone to the database who has not been reviewed before, you must have that person's cell phone number.

Positive ratings post immediately; negative ratings are queued in a private inbox for 48 hours in case of disputes.

If you haven't registered for the site, and thus can't contest those negative ratings, your profile only shows positive reviews.

On top of that, Peeple has outlawed a laundry list of bad behaviours, including profanity, sexism and mention of private health conditions.