Army Upgrades Biometric Gear

From Defense News:

The U.S. Army and Marines are upgrading more than 4,000 Polaroid camera-sized biometric detection devices that scan, track and identify potential terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, service and industry officials said. The Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) scans fingerprints or irises, then matches them with those stored in a remote database. […] "With identification technology, you will know that if a farmer in southern Iraq shows up running around in northern Iraq as a taxi driver, you have reason to be suspicious."

Many Faces of Biometrics in Iraq

Just back from Iraq, Wired writer/blogger Noah Shachtman offers some interesting details on the wide array of biometric technology being utilized there. First, he writes about his own experience:

Then, us reporters need to be issued IDs. Which means getting a scan of your index finger, and a having a standard, passport-style picture taken. At two-thirty in the morning, it took seven tries to get a shot where I didn't look stoned out of my mind. After that, they take scans of both your irises. Five more headshots – for the facial recognition software. And scans of all ten fingerprints. Finally, I'm approved as an accredited member of the press in Iraq. Just that easy.

Then there is the experience of the general population, in places like Fallujah, who actually seem to have a slightly easier time of things:

The Marines have walled off Fallujah, and closed the city’s roads to traffic. The only way in is to have a badge. And the only way to get a badge is to have Marines snap your picture, scan your irises, and take all ten of your fingerprints. Only then can you get into the city.

That’s just one approach in one location, however. The various biometric projects that Shachman describes seem disconnected and sub-optimized on a number of levels. There is no single biometric database, for instance, and even if it existed, it would be too large for the hand-held devices used by the Marines. And in Baghdad, they have another problem:

Back in Baghdad, they're running a biometric badge system – based on Saddam’s old fingerprint records -- to check on the backgrounds of Iraqi security forces. (Which brings up the question, is a criminal in Saddam’s eyes a bad guy – or a good one?)

More stories and insight at Noah’s blog.

Terrorists Get BATized on the Go

U.S. forces have some new tools at their disposal. The Biometrics Automated Toolset, or BAT for short, now includes lightweight portable units capable of scanning and identifying bad guys on the run...and in the blink of an eye.

With today’s technology, however, the size and weight of systems have been reduced, which means members of America’s armed forces are more willing to use them. Currently 735,000 detainees in Iraq have been entered into a BAT system that can be obtained quickly -- even in the field, Jones said. The system provides an opportunity for a soldier to check to see if a person caused problems before or was a suspect but released. […] Being small, portable and affordable, the GIs like the new biometric systems, which also are being used by military police, check point security guards, and base compound guards as a way to rapidly identify insurgents. The Language and Technology Office continues to look for additional systems that will provide other information to add to the BAT arsenal. When the office began a few years ago, there were three government employees and a few contractors. Now “we have three govs (government employees) and 60 contractors,” which shows the increased importance of biometrics, Jones said.

Blackwater Request for Cameras...DENIED

Blackwater USA, a great American business success story and a company doing more than any other to protect American lives in Iraq, has recently come under political shelling for a September firefight that resulted in several Iraqi deaths. Though Blackwater claims the shootings were in self defense, and point to bullet holes in their vehicles as proof, the absence of any video of the incident has made it difficult for the security company to respond to accusations of being "trigger happy" and killing innocents. In partial response, the State Department will now require that all Blackwater convoys include video surveillance equipment. It’s interesting to note that over 2 years ago, Blackwater also requested convoy cameras over concerns that they might become the target of an enemy propoganda campaign…and was denied.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Oct. 5 ordered that video cameras and recording equipment be installed in convoy vehicles guarded by Blackwater USA. But according to internal Blackwater documents, the security firm asked the Department of State in May 2005 to install cameras in official U.S. motorcades
protected by its employees "in response to a false accusation against one of our
teams in Baghdad." The company considered the fact that that footage could be
used against it but decided in the end that the cameras and recording devices would work to its advantage and planned to use footage for training purposes.
Following the request, a former official with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security,
the Department of State's law-enforcement arm, contacted Blackwater and asked it to "stand down" due to unresolved legal issues. The matter was then dropped (Washington Times via Security Management Weekly).