A new security system for nightclubs uses facial recognition technology to identify troublemakers — and share their faces with other clubs in a security network.

Jeff Dussich, the 24-year-old cofounder of JAD Communications & Security, likes to party as much as the next guy. But he also understands that one hothead can screw up a good evening out. And at clubs and bars, troublemakers can cause major problems over time — frightening off customers, and even forcing the place to close.

BioBouncer is his solution. Its camera snaps customers entering clubs and bars, and facial recognition software compares them with stored images of previously identified troublemakers. The technology alerts club security to image matches, while innocent images are automatically flushed at the end of each night, Dussich said. Various clubs can share databases through a virtual private network, so belligerent drunks might find themselves unwelcome in all their neighborhood bars.

“The goal is to be an extra set of eyes for club security (and) club management,” he said, “(and) to help them keep out the perpetual troublemakers.”

Privacy watchdog groups, however, don’t like the sound of it, and it’s not clear club patrons will dig it, either. Many people are already accustomed, or oblivious, to cameras recording their every move at ATMs and 7-11s. But in a bar’s let-loose environment the sign Dussich wants posted at the entrance announcing that BioBouncer is recording their faces might send customers running.

Lee Tien, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said people may find BioBouncer insulting or invasive. Facial recognition software is notoriously inaccurate, he said, and he is concerned that data-sharing could be used to blackball innocent partiers.

“Think about it: Someone doesn’t like you, your photo gets in there, you walk in someplace and they’re telling you, ‘You’re a troublemaker, you got bounced from that other bar.’”

BioBouncer was born when a Toronto club owner asked if Dussich could help curb a burgeoning crime problem. Dussich may be on to something, as crime is plaguing the club scene nationwide, said Robert Smith, a police officer and nightclub security expert, who runs the Hospitality and Security Alliance.

“It used to be you settled your arguments with a push and a shove,” Smith said. “Now it’s … knives and bottles over the head.”

Smith believes biometric tools like BioBouncer are vital to the club scene. Similar technology is being used in Amsterdam and Great Britain, he said. At least one U.S. company, Food Service Solutions, is peddling fingerprint recognition to alcohol retailers

Dussich said BioBouncer launches in March. Setup is $7,500 and fees and support for a year costs $6,000. Despite the price tag, prospective customers in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Italy are already showing interest, Dussich said.

He admitted that mistakes and abuse are possible, but BioBouncer is accurate, he said, even in smoky, dimly lit and spotty-lens conditions. And in the end, he said, humans are still in charge. If a customer starts a fight, trigger cameras record the incident and match it with the person’s door photo, but security guards must confirm BioBouncer’s suspicions.

“In my mind,” he said, “security technology is only as good as the humans behind it.”