Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov said the Ukrainian government is using the facial recognition software Clearview to identify dead Russian soldiers, and using that information to contact relatives of the dead.
"In appreciation of the mothers of these soldiers, we are disseminating this information on social media to at least let the families know that they have lost their sons, and then enable them to come and collect their bodies," Fedorov told Reuters.
The facial recognition technology is being provided by a controversial startup called Clearview AI.
The program identifies people who use public images taken from the web and social media platforms, without permission, to create a searchable database.
If you want to get to know someone, just upload a photo or take a new one, and Clearview will try to match.
The program keeps the photos posted on the social networking sites, and the company said earlier that this includes two million photos taken from the Russian social networking service VKontakte.
Access to the searchable database is then sold to police departments and federal agencies, Clearview says, but additional reports suggest the company has also been granted access to other customers, including billionaires and retail chains like Walmart. And even some clients in the educational field such as schools.
In addition to identifying Russian soldiers, the software is also allegedly used to identify potential Russian intruders trying to enter the country at checkpoints.