A group of researchers called Chaos Computer Club bought six biometric devices on Ebay, most of which cost less than $ 200. This was prompted by last year’s article of the Intercept publication that similar devices of the American military fell into the hands of the Taliban. Having bought devices, the researchers wanted to check whether they contain identification data of people who help the US Army.
As the report by the Chaos Computer Club report, the results were shocked. On the map of the memory of one of the devices, they found names, nationality, photographs, fingerprints and scans of the iris of the eye of 2,632 people. Metadata showed that the device was used in the summer of 2012 in Afghanistan. Another device was used in Jordan in 2013, it contained fingerprints and scans of the iris of the eye of a small group of American troops.
Such devices were used to identify the rebels, checks of local citizens and citizens from other countries who had access to American military bases.
In an interview with The New York Times, researchers said that the American military did not even try to protect this data.
One of the devices was bought at a military auction, and the seller said that he did not know what data on it was. Secret information was stored on the memory card, so the US military could safely get rid of it, but for some reason they did not do it.
Given the delicacy of information, the group plans to delete all the personal data found on the devices. In addition, researchers recommended everyone whose data they found on memory maps to get a refuge from the US government, because their lives can threaten real danger.