Fingerprint and Iris database in Afghanistan
Information Certainty: Speculative
Deployment Purpose: Criminal investigations, Voter & ID Registration, War Operations
| Summary |
|---|
| The US military engaged in building a database of Afghan citizens who were working with the US military in any way which involved collecting their fingerprints and iris data, possibly along with data for facial recognition. The articles mention that the technology could be connected to four databases: the Automated Biometrics Identification System (ABIS), the Afghan Automated Biometrics Identification System (AABIS), the Afghan Personnel and Pay System (APPS) and the e-Tazkira. This biometric information is now in the hands of the Taliban and could be used by them to target possible opponents. |
Products and Institutions:
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (1 January 2004, Documented, , The article describes that a database of biometric information was being worked on in 2004) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | US Military Grand Technology Resources Northrop Grumman Leidos Netlinks |
|---|---|
| Managed by | The Taliban |
| Used by | The Taliban |
Location:
| City | Kabul |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | Afghanistan |
Description[ ]
As the Taliban swept through Afghanistan in mid-August, declaring the end of two decades of war, reports quickly circulated that they had also captured US military biometric devices used to collect data such as iris scans, fingerprints, and facial images. Some feared that the machines, known as HIIDE, could be used to help identify Afghans who had supported coalition forces. 3
established in late 2009 to keep criminal suspects and Taliban members from infiltrating the army and police force, the Afghan Automated Biometric Identification System (AABIS), run by the Afghan government, holds the biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints, and photograph) of former Afghan military and police members. 1
In 2010, the Afghan government began a campaign led by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to collect Afghans’ biometric and other personal data and issue electronic identity cards. The digital identity system is known as e-Tazkira. The system holds at a minimum a person’s name, father’s and grandfather’s name, national identity number, physical description, place of origin, place and date of birth, sex, marital status, religion, tribal links, ethnicity, first language, profession, level of education, level of literacy, and biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints, and photograph). 1
In 2004, the US Department of Defense created the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which serves as a central repository for personal data, including biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints, and photograph) collected by US military officers and other department staff of people in Afghanistan and Iraq who might pose security risks. Among other companies involved, the Defense Department contracted Northrop Grumman, a US-based company, to build and manage the system, but the contract was taken over by Leidos, a US-based company, in 2015.
a new integrated human resources and payroll system, APPS, that holds personal data on members of the army and police. The US Defense Department paid for the creation of APPS in 2016 and contracted Netlinks, an Afghan IT-company, to manage the system and integrate AABIS biometric data (iris scan, fingerprints, and photograph). 1
References
- a b c d e "New Evidence that Biometric Data Systems Imperil Afghans". (2022) <https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/30/new-evidence-biometric-data-systems-imperil-afghans> Accessed: 2022-12-11
- ^ Klippenstein, Ken and Sirota, Sara. The Taliban Have Seized U.S. Military Biometrics Devices. , 2021.
- a b "This is the real story of the Afghan biometric databases abandoned to the Taliban". (2021) <https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/30/1033941/afghanistan-biometric-databases-us-military-40-data-points/> Accessed: 2022-12-11
- ^ Gorman, Christine. How Biometrics Helped to Identify the Master Terrorist. , 2011.