There has been much controversy, in Vancouver BC, following the post NHL game riots, about the public posting of photographs and the invitation to identify those in the images. Vancouver Police Want Your Riot Video and Photos dominated the headlines. These images appear on a variety of social media sites, including facebook where they could be ‘tagged’ and are being used in some instances to charge individuals, and make them responsible for their behavior.

But, what are the legal implications? Have we have seen Big Brother, and he is us? Some sources indicated that facial recognition software is being rolled out that will be able to automatically tag/identify photos. Those we thought couldn’t be identified in our ‘general’  photos, do they now require a ‘photo release’? Individuals have lost jobs because of what they’ve posted on social media, there may be legal implications and now they can face serious consequences as well for what others may post. And what if they are wrongly tagged to a post? That is not imply that the guilty should not be punished, but where does it leave the photographer who was once able to share the unidentified “street photograph”?  It’s a post that definitely requires a follow-up.