Facial recognition to identify rioters?

[MakesCakesWhenStressed]

So there's a Google group exhorting those with the ability to help develop facial recognition software to identify rioters from the CCTV footage and so on, presumably utilising social media profile pics. Article about the item here

What do you think? Ethical? Contravening privacy? Bloody good idea so these thugs don't think they can just get away with this behaviour? I honestly can;t make up my mind...

Entirely ethical and no different to Crimewatch asking us to identify the rogues gallery in principle. Nice twist asking people to develop software - rather less passive than looking at a mugshot. Social media profile pictures are usually public, so that gets past the privacy issues. Given that this seems to be a high tech riot, it seems right to resolve it with high tech means. You know what they say... don't take a sword to a gunfight.

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with as a group and whether it actually a)gets some rioters identified and b) acts as a deterrent to some extent to those who think they can get away with it.