The biometric, social and business data the Taliban could use to target left-behind Afghans

Published

4 years ago

August 27, 2021

admin

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?

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.

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.

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.

Why data journalism matters to Sky News

World

At least 25 killed as bus bursts into flames after crash with motorbike in India

Published

5 hours ago

October 24, 2025

admin

At least 25 killed as bus bursts into flames after crash with motorbike in India

A passenger bus burst into flames after a motorbike crashed into it, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India.

A fire ripped through the bus within minutes early on Friday, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state.

Some people managed to break windows, leaping to safety with minor injuries, while others were charred to death, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.

There were 44 passengers on board, most of whom were asleep at the time of the crash.

The bus was gutted and the unidentified bike rider also died, Mr Patil said.

The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, around 130 miles (210 kilometres) south of Hyderabad.

The bus was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state.

The motorbike rammed into the speeding bus from behind and became stuck, Mr Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus’s fuel tank.

“As the smoke started spreading, the driver stopped the bus and tried to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher, but the fire was so intense he couldn’t control it,” Mr Patil said.

A team of forensic experts was investigating the incident.

India‘s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered his condolences to the bereaved families.

World

Makers of lift used by Louvre thieves reveal tongue-in-cheek advert

Published

5 hours ago

October 24, 2025

admin

Makers of lift used by Louvre thieves reveal tongue-in-cheek advert

The makers of the furniture lift used by the Louvre thieves have told Sky News the device is “certainly not intended for burglaries” after publishing a tongue-in-cheek advert making the most of the product’s sudden fame.

Bocker manufactures the Agilo furniture lift that was used in Sunday’s daring daytime heist.

The day after thieves made off with a haul of France’s Crown Jewels worth €88m (£76m), the firm posted a photograph showing the lift inside the police cordon next to the Paris museum with the tagline “when you need to move fast”.

Posted on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, it shows the vehicle’s ladder propped up against the side of the building, telling prospective buyers the lift can carry “up to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute – as quiet as a whisper”.

CEO Alexander Bocker told Sky News he and his wife, marketing manager Julia Scharwatz, realised their product had been used in the heist when they saw photos from the scene on Sunday afternoon.

“We were shocked that our lift had been completely misused for this robbery, as it is not approved for transporting people,” he said. “And certainly not intended for burglaries.

“Once the initial shock had subsided and it was clear that no one had been injured, black humour took over.

“We brainstormed a bit and played slogan ping pong. My wife finalised it with her marketing team on Monday morning.”

Users have generally seen the funny side, with one Instagram comment saying the post “might be the best ad I’ve seen this year” and another suggesting the company deserves “the Oscar for the cleverest advertising”.

Mr Bocker said “99% of the feedback ” has been “thoroughly positive”. “We understand that not everyone shares this sense of humour. Humour rarely, if ever, appeals to everyone, but the vast majority laughed heartily.”

As of Friday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had liked the post on Instagram.

The CEO said his company has had enquiries from around the world and “many congratulations on our successful marketing campaign”.

The lift used by the thieves belonged to one of the firm’s customers, who rents out furniture lifts in the Greater Paris area, he explained.

“During a demonstration on how to use the furniture lift, it was apparently stolen and reported as such by our customer,” Mr Bocker said. “It appears that the company’s branding has been removed and the number plates replaced.”

The Louvre reopened to visitors on Wednesday, having shut shortly after the heist took place on Sunday morning.

The eight stolen objects remain missing and the thieves, who escaped on motorbikes, are still at large.

Museum director Laurence des Cars offered to resign when she appeared before French senators on Wednesday, admitting that the four-minute raid was a “terrible failure” and that the site’s security cameras, which do not offer full coverage of the building’s facade, were inadequate.

It came just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and under-resourcing, and saying there were too few eyes on too many rooms.

World

Power of Russia sanctions lies in US financial system that greases the wheels

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

admin

Power of Russia sanctions lies in US financial system that greases the wheels

US sanctions against Russia’s two largest energy companies, the state-owned Rosneft and privately held Lukoil, are perhaps the most significant economic measures imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.

If fully implemented, they have the potential to significantly choke off the flow of fossil fuel revenue that funds Russia’s war machine, but their power lies not in directly denying Russia access to the tankers, ports and refineries that make the oil trade turn, but the US financial system that greases the wheels.

Ever since the invasion, the Russian government has proved masterful at evading sanctions, aided and abetted by allies of economic convenience and an oil industry with decades of experience.

Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy expresses relief at Trump move

While the West, principally the EU, has largely turned off the taps and stopped buying Russian oil, China, India and Turkey became the largest consumers, with a shadow fleet of tankers ensuring exports continued to flow.

Data from the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that while fossil fuel revenues have fallen from more than €1bn a day before the war, they have remained above €600m since the start of 2023, only dipping towards €500m in the last month.

None of that oil has been heading for the US, but these sanctions will directly impact the ability of the Russian companies, and anyone doing business with them, to operate within America’s financial orbit.

According to the order from the US Office for Foreign Asset Control, the sanctions block all assets of the two companies, their subsidiaries and a number of named individuals, as well as preventing US citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.

It also threatens foreign financial institutions that “facilitate transactions… involving Russia’s military-industrial base” with direct or secondary sanctions.

In practice, the measures should prevent the two companies from accessing not just dollars, but trading markets, insurance and other services with any financial connection to the US.

Taken in harness with similar steps announced by the UK earlier this month, analysts believe they can have a genuinely chilling effect on the market for Russian oil and gas.

Russia’s customers for oil in China, India and Turkey will also be affected, with the largest companies, state-owned and private, expected to be unwilling to take the risk of engaging directly with sanctioned entities.

Indian companies are already reported to be “recalibrating” their imports following the announcement, which came just a week after Donald Trump announced an additional 25% import tariff on Indian goods as punishment for the country’s reliance on Russian oil.

That does not mean that Russian oil and gas exports will cease. There are other unsanctioned Russian energy companies that can still trade, and ever since the first barrel of oil was tapped, the industry has proved adept at evading sanctions intended to interrupt its flow from one country or another.

Any significant increase in the oil price beyond the 5% seen in the aftermath of the announcement could also put pressure on the White House, which is at least as sensitive to fuel prices at home as it is to foreign wars.

But analysts Kpler expect the sanctions to cause “an immediate, short-term hiatus in Russian crude exports, as it will take time for sellers to reorganise and rebuild their trading systems to circumvent restrictions and ease buyers’ concerns”.

And Russian gas will, for now, continue to flow into Europe, where distaste for Vladimir Putin‘s imperial ambitions has not killed the appetite for his fuel. While the EU has this week imposed sanctions on liquified natural gas (LNG), they will not be fully enforced until 2027.