The latest HRW report examined six digital identity and payroll systems built in Afghanistan for or with assistance from foreign governments and international institutions. The systems contain Afghans’ personal and biometric data, including iris scans, fingerprints, photographs, occupation, home addresses, and names of relatives. Much of this data ended up in the hands of the Taliban, endangering the Afghan people. HRW’s report states that researchers have not been able to ensure that international donors (such as the US government, the European Union, the UN, and World Bank) have taken any steps to ensure that people whose data was collected are informed of what has happened to their data and what the consequences of that could be. Additionally, researchers note that the data could be used to target perceived opponents (and research suggests that this may already be happening).
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