According to The New York Times, German researchers who bought biometric capturing equipment on eBay discovered secret US military data on their memory cards. This includes fingerprints, iris scans, pictures, names, and descriptions of the people, the majority of whom were from Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the article, many worked with the US army and might be targeted if the devices fell into the wrong hands.
The Chaos Computer Club, directed by Matthias Marx, purchased six of the devices on eBay, the majority for less than $200. They were prompted by a story by The Intercept in 2021 that the Taliban had captured identical US military biometric gadgets. As a result, they sought to investigate whether they had any identifying information on anyone who supported the US military that may put them in danger.
