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In a May 2021 report, anthropologist Nina Toft Djanegara illustrates how the collection and use of biometrics by the US military in Iraq set the precedent for similar efforts in Afghanistan. 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.Īccording to a 2007 presentation by the US 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. These include facial features, voice patterns, fingerprints or iris features. 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.īiometric data, or simply biometrics, are unique physical or behavioural characteristics that can be used to identify a person. Military equipment and devices - including the collected data - are speculated to have been captured by the Taliban, who have taken over Afghanistan. Today, HIIDE provides access to a database of biometric and biographic data, including of those who aided coalition forces. Over time, for the sake of efficiency, the system came to include the data of Afghans assisting the US during the war. The device, known as Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE), was initially developed by the US government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals. 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.