AfghanistanThe Taliban May Have Captured the Biometric Data of Civilians Who Helped the U.S.

By Lucia Nalbandian

Published 27 August 2021

In 2007, the United States military began using a small, handheld device – calledHandheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) — to collect and match the iris, fingerprints, and facial scans of over 1.5 million Afghans against a database of biometric data.HIDE was initially developed by the U.S. government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals.HIDE, andits collected data,  are speculated to have been captured by the Taliban.There is a lesson here: If security and privacy cannot be ensured, then biometric data collection and use should not be deployed in conflict zones and crisis response.

In 2007, the United States military began using a small, handheld device to collect and match the iris, fingerprint and facial scans of over 1.5 million Afghans against a database of biometric data. The device, known as Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE), was initially developed by the U.S. government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals. Over time, for the sake of efficiency, the system came to include the data of Afghans assisting the U.S. during the war.

Today, HIIDE provides access to a database of biometric and biographic data, including of those who aided coalition forces. Military equipment and devices — including the collected data — are speculated to have been captured by the Taliban, who have taken over Afghanistan.

This development is the latest in many incidents that exemplify why governments and international organizations cannot yet securely collect and use biometric data in conflict zones and in their crisis responses.

Building Biometric Databases
Biometric data, or simply biometrics, are unique physical or behavioral characteristics that can be used to identify a person. These include facial features, voice patterns, fingerprints or iris features. Often described as the most secure method of verifying an individual’s identity, biometric data are being used by governments and organizations to verify and grant citizens and clients access to personal information, finances and accounts.

According to a 2007 presentation by the U.S. Army’s Biometrics Task Force, HIIDE collected and matched fingerprints, iris images, facial photos and biographical contextual data of persons of interest against an internal database.

In a May 2021 report, anthropologist Nina Toft Djanegara illustrates how the collection and use of biometrics by the U.S. military in Iraq set the precedent for similar efforts in Afghanistan. There, the “U.S. Army Commander’s Guide to Biometrics in Afghanistan” advised officials to “be creative and persistent in their efforts to enroll as many Afghans as possible.” The guide recognized that people may hesitate to provide their personal information and therefore, officials should “frame biometric enrolment as a matter of ‘protecting their people.’”

Inspired by the U.S. biometrics system, the Afghan government began work to establish a national ID card, collecting biometric data from university students, soldiers and passport and driver license applications.