
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 U.S. 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 behavioral 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 U.S. government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals. The device, known as Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment ( HIIDE), was initially developed by the U.S. 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. 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.

government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals. 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.
