Ken Klippenstein: Officials concerned that Taliban could use data from seized biometrics devices

Ken Klippenstein, an investigative reporter for The Intercept, said Thursday that current and former military officials revealed that U.S. military biometric devices have been seized by the Taliban in their takeover of Afghanistan, fueling concerns that the insurgent group could obtain sensitive data on civilians. 

In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Klippenstein said officials noted that the devices, known as Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, or (HIIDE), contain specific biometric data, including iris scans and fingerprints, as part of a previously reported Pentagon goal of gathering information on 80 percent of the Afghan population to identify terrorists and criminals. 

However, Klippenstein said that the officials he spoke with are concerned that data on the devices “could now tell the Taliban what it was that people were doing,” including U.S. coalition partners. 

“There are concerns that either the Chinese or the Pakistani intelligence, which is much more sophisticated than what the Taliban can do, might be able to help them access broader remote databases via these devices,” the reporter explained. 

Watch part of Klippenstein’s interview above.