Taliban seizes military biometric devices, may use it to ID US allies in Afghanistan

The Taliban seized US military biometric equipment which the group may use in identifying allies of the West in Afghanistan, former and current US military officials told The Intercept.

“The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special Operations Command official and three former US military personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they contain could be used by the Taliban,” The Intercept reported on Wednesday.

HIIDE was developed to provide an untethered, portable biometric collection and identification platform, the US military says.

It collects iris, fingerprints, photographs and biographical data, creating a “portfolio” that can be imported as a “digital dossier”.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan earlier this week after US forces pulled out of the country.

The extremist group launched a charm offensive in an effort to rehabilitate its hardline image, making big promises of change such as not retaliating against government employees and soldiers and to respect the rights of women.

However, local journalists and activists say the real picture on the ground is quite different, with concerning reports of house searches and arrests by the Taliban.

After years of a push to digitize databases in the country, and introduce digital identity cards and biometrics for voting, activists warn these technologies can be used to target and attack vulnerable groups.

“We understand that the Taliban is now likely to have access to various biometric databases and equipment in Afghanistan,” the Human Rights First group wrote on Twitter on Monday.

“This technology is likely to include access to a database with fingerprints and iris scans, and include facial recognition technology,” the group added.

The US-based advocacy group quickly published a Farsi-language version of its guide on how to delete digital history - that it had produced last year for activists in Hong Kong - and also put together a manual on how to evade biometrics.

Tips to bypass facial recognition include looking down, wearing things to obscure facial features, or applying many layers of makeup, the guide said, although fingerprint and iris scans were difficult to bypass.

With Reuters