US Military Biometric Devices Could be in the Hands of the Taliban | Risk to Identify Afghan Nationals Who Worked for the US Gov

Urian B., Tech Times 18 August 2021, 05:08 am

US military biometric devices have reportedly been seized by the Taliban. These devices could help them identify Afghan nationals that worked for the US government.

HIIDE in the Hands of the Taliban

The devices are called HIIDE or Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, according to a source's statement to The Intercept.

The information that is stored on the devices could even include iris scans, biometric information, fingerprints, and more, according to the news outlet's report.

According to the report, the devices were taken as the Taliban took over Kabul, the country's capital.

"We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.," a US military contractor told the news outlet.

"[HIIDE] was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition."

These devices can reportedly be used in order to access a broad centralized database. Biometrics are reportedly key to the whole facial-recognition technology and are commonly used for everyday tasks.

Fingerprint Recognition and Biometric Technologies

These everyday tasks include unlocking phones and even tagging friends on social media, according to the story by CNet.

However, this can also be used by the law enforcement as well as the military in order to identify suspects or even other individuals.

ScienceDirect defines biometric technologies as generally referring to the use of technology in order to identify a person based on certain aspects of their biology. Fingerprint recognition is known as one of the very first and original biometric technologies that might have also been grouped loosely under digital forensics.

Surveillance Cameras on Algorithms

With the increasing number of video surveillance cameras coming up in large cities, the use of data that is captured by cameras has been a subject of a number of different privacy and human rights storms.

The technology is pretty straightforward.

CCTVs in public places, streets, and office buildings record images 24/7. These sophisticated algorithms would then carry out a sort of matching exercise along with an existing database of images that are potential "targets."

Biometric monitoring has been a touchy topic with companies like Amazon, who is using it to monitor drivers.

Enhanced Surveillance and Future Action

A certain match will then trigger enhanced surveillance and even possible future and further action.

In order for the system to be effective, the whole matching database should be wider and more comprehensive.

Biometric sensors have become a more widely used tool when it comes to security.

It is also not that surprising to note that in order to put such a critical database together, security agencies never consult or seek permission in order to keep people's records in their own data centers.

Back in August 2012, the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, and Ray Kelly unveiled a brand new police surveillance infrastructure that was developed directly by Microsoft.

Police Surveillance Infrastructure

The police surveillance infrastructure was reportedly named the Domain Awareness System which reportedly links other existing police databases with other live video feeds from a number of different sources. ThalesGroup provides a definition of biometric identification.

According to their page, the main aim is to be able to capture an item of biometric data from a certain person. It can either be a photo of their face, a recording of their voice, or even an image of their fingerprint itself.

The data is then compared directly to the biometric data that exists on the database.

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Written by Urian B.