Facial recognition software helps to identify 144 children

ISTANBUL

The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Türkiye’s (TÜBİTAK) facial recognition software DerinGÖRÜ has so far helped trace the identities of 144 children rescued from the rubble after deadly earthquakes rattled the country’s south.

Developed by TÜBİTAK’s Informatics and Information Security Advanced Technologies Research Center (BİLGEM) and previously used by police and other institutions for various purposes, DerinGÖRÜ software is now being used for reuniting unidentified earthquake survivors with their families.

The data consisting of photographs of unidentified children who were pulled out from the rubble and were unable to share their personal information for various reasons are matched with the photographs of children in missing persons reports.

The matches are examined in detail, which helps to identify the unaccompanied minors.

Gökhan Özbulak, the head of the Data Valorization Department at TÜBİTAK BİLGEM, said that 144 children have been identified so far and that the work to identify others is in progress.

More than 350 out of around 1,400 unaccompanied children were reunited with their families after they were pulled out from the rubble, while nearly 800 of them were referred to hospitals for treatment.

More than 200 of them were settled in the facilities affiliated with the Family and Social Services Ministry, while the identities of around 1,000 children have been determined so far. More than 190,000 people applied to the ministry to become foster families for quake victim children in need of protection and care.