The biometric, social and business data the Taliban could use to target left-behind Afghans
Concerns are mounting that the Taliban has gained access to vast amounts of personal information through former US military and Afghan government databases that could allow them to target civilians.
It would be the first time the group has acquired the personal information of Afghan civilians on such a scale.
Afghans are also racing to erase social media profiles, while international organisations scramble to delete any remaining evidence that could reveal information on the locals they have worked with over the past 20 years.
And with reports that documents identifying job applicants and Afghan workers were left outside the British embassy, the threat of identifying information falling into the wrong hands is more real than ever.
But what information could the Taliban access and what could it mean for Afghan civilians?
Fingerprint scanners, iris scanners and other biometric equipment was used to verify voters in 2019 elections
Biometric data
At least three digital identity systems using biometric data are known to have been operated recently in Afghanistan, according to digital human rights group Access Now.
One of them – the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) – was initially operated by US forces as a means of collecting iris, fingerprint and facial scans of criminals and insurgents during the war.
But it was later used to log the data of Afghans assisting the US among others, with investigative reporter Annie Jacobsen reporting that the Pentagon aimed to gather biometric data on 80% of the Afghan population.
Reports indicate that HIIDE equipment – and therefore the large centralised databases of personal information they are linked to – was seized by the Taliban last week.
It’s not known how many people’s sensitive, identifying information can now be retrieved by the group as a result.
The consequences could be fatal, with reports that Taliban fighters are going house to house to find people who worked with foreign forces.
But there are also less immediate implications which might stop people hiding from the Taliban from accessing services such as healthcare and further education, according to Brian Dooley of Human Rights First, a US-based human rights group.
“Will people want to go to hospital if they know that when they come into contact with the authorities, they will have access to biometric data and there’s no hiding who you are, and what your history was?” he told Sky News.
Human Rights First have produced guides on how to erase digital history and evade misuse of biometric data.
Two government-run biometric databases were also recently operational in Afghanistan: the controversial e-Tazkira identity cards and US-supported Afghanistan Automated Biometric Identity System.
“I think it’s probably wise to assume that the Taliban have got their hands on everything that the Afghan government had a couple of weeks ago, which was a lot of information on people,” said Mr Dooley.
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Afghan families in UK fear for relatives in Kabul
The 2019 Afghan election, for example, used voter verification machines with fingerprint, eye and facial recognition capabilities in a bid to curb election fraud.
Access Now also estimates that there may be several other digital identity systems using biometrics held by humanitarian organisations like the UN and World Food Programme.
Many of these international groups are now racing to do what they can to secure the data they have gathered.
Carolyn Tackett, deputy advocacy director at Access Now told Sky News:
“For humanitarian agencies like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Program (WFP) that have embedded biometrics into their service delivery, they are now facing difficult decisions about how to minimise data records and access points that put people in danger, while also trying to maintain their programmes in support of millions in Afghanistan facing displacement, food insecurity, poverty, and more.”
And while Ms Tackett does not have evidence of international organisations’ databases being compromised, she said “time is of the essence” when it comes to securing data.
“It is standard form around the world for host governments to require access to [international organisations’] databases for purposes of migration, law enforcement, and more,” she said.
“And it is likely only a matter of time before the Taliban present them with the same ultimatum.”
Social media
Since 10 August, many Afghans have scrambled to eliminate traces of their previous lives on social media for fear of retribution by the Taliban.
This includes the thousands of people who either worked directly with foreign forces as interpreters or worked in adjacent organisations in the years since US forces entered the country.
Abdul worked as a contractor for a Western security firm. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
He told Sky News that on the first day the Taliban took over he deleted everything from his Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. He deleted his LinkedIn in the following days.
He’s concerned that his connection to a Western company may make him a target of the Taliban.
“I deleted everything belonging to my career – even my birthday wishes from expats, who were mostly UK citizens,” he said.
He told Sky News he felt “scared, shameful and disgraced” to have to do it.
“It was against the commitments I made to my friends,” he said.
It’s a feeling shared by many Afghans who have had to erase evidence of their accomplishments for fear of reprisals.
Fatimah Hossaini, a journalist and women’s activist, shared an image of herself and three other female Afghan colleagues deleting their digital history in the days following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul.
She posted: “The last days in Kabul while we, four friends, Afghan women journalists were hiding ourselves in d house. we were deleting our posts & profiles & whatever we achieved over past two decades. Taliban fighters were outside & patrolling d area. Feeling broken & traumatized.”
She has since fled the country.
But not everyone may want to – or be able to – erase their online identity.
“For some people, it’s a horrible dilemma. Their ticket out is to be able to prove that they have some relationship with American forces or British forces, for example. If they delete that, it might be more dangerous for them,” said Brian Dooley.
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have all rolled out tools to limit who can see Afghan users’ profiles and connections.
Information held by businesses
While information online can be erased at the click of a button, sensitive documents stored in offices throughout Afghanistan are far harder to destroy.
The speed the Taliban captured Kabul means many did not have time to eliminate evidence which – in the eyes of the Taliban – incriminates them.
Smoke rises next to the US Embassy in Kabul on 15 August as diplomatic vehicles leave the compound. Pic: AP
Abdul was in his office on the day that the group descended on Kabul.
But on hearing the news he left, terrified.
His personal profile on the office admin files were left behind, as well as the duty roster with employees’ names on them.
“Every moment I think about it and what happens to me if they find me. It’s hard to imagine how cruel they are,” he said.
It follows the discovery by a journalist of CVs and job applications strewn on the ground outside the British Embassy in Kabul, with names and identifying information clearly visible.
Others have raised concerns about the possibility of the Taliban accessing call logs and location records of individuals, which are stored by telecoms companies.
While the risk posed by this information falling into the wrong hands is serious, experts estimate that there is still some time for some organisations to stop the Taliban gaining access.
“They’ve got their hands full by imposing their authority on a country. I suspect that large-scale tech detection is not what they’re going to be doing on day four or five. But maybe week four or five,” said Mr Dooley.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
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Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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