Stranded Afghans Delete Social Media as Taliban Seizes US Surveillance Equipment

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint near the U.S. Embassy that was previously manned by U.S. troops in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 17, 2021. AP Photo

Concerned that they could be targeted by Taliban online surveillance operations, U.S. Afghan allies are reportedly scrambling in droves to delete their social media profiles. Meanwhile, privacy advocates are raising concerns that the U.S. data program possibly inherited by the Taliban could lead to blowback threatening civil liberties in the United States.

The New York-based group Human Rights First announced on Aug. 16 that Taliban fighters had captured U.S. surveillance tools. Those devices, known as Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE), were used by soldiers to scan the biometrics of Afghans to match fingerprints on improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and for other such forensic investigations.