Disaster Victim Identification in the Information Age: The Use Of Personal Data, Post-Mortem Privacy and the Rights of the Victim’s Relatives

Use of Facial Recognition Software to Identify Disaster Victims With Facial Injuries

“…8 Indeed, advances in digital photography and easy transmission of data over the Internet and via text, SMS, and e-mail have made rapid transmission of digital images ubiquitous, even in disaster zones. 9 This has aided in the process of victim identification in disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake when the Israeli emergency medical response team used a wireless network and laptops to allow people to view images of victims in order to aid in locating loved ones, in particular missing children. 10 Although digital images can be captured and transmitted quickly and with very high resolution and fidelity, an unaided responder or the family member of a victim may still have to manually view many photographs to find a picture of a loved one.…”

“…, 7 Although positive identification by family members alone is not considered conclusive victim identification for deceased victims, photographs of victims are frequently used to help family members of victims locate and identify their loved ones 8 . Indeed, advances in digital photography and easy transmission of data over the Internet and via text, SMS, and e-mail have made rapid transmission of digital images ubiquitous, even in disaster zones 9 . This has aided in the process of victim identification in disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake when the Israeli emergency medical response team used a wireless network and laptops to allow people to view images of victims in order to aid in locating loved ones, in particular missing children 10 …”