Worries about US data on Iraqis

[G_j]

Worries about US data on Iraqis
Privacy advocates, those scanned fear misuse if files shared


A US soldier digitally scanned the iris of a man hoping to enlist in an Iraqi unit. (AFP/ Getty Images/ 2008)

By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / August 31, 2010

WASHINGTON — Over the past seven years, US soldiers in Iraq have used sweeping wartime powers to collect fingerprints, iris scans, and even DNA from ordinary people and suspected insurgents, an effort that has helped the Pentagon amass one of the world’s most comprehensive databases of biometric information collected during a war.

As the war draws down, however, the collection of so much personal information has raised questions about how data gathered during wartime should be used during times of peace, and with whom that information should be shared.

<snip>

Nearly 7 percent of Iraq’s 29 million people are cataloged — their names, facial scans, and often other details about them, such as whether they were considered a friend or foe. Now, US officials are debating about how much of the powerful data should be shared with Iraq and how much Iraq’s own troubled security forces should be encouraged to continue collecting information.

Some Iraqis fear that the transfer of data to their government could create a “hit list’’ of Iraqis who worked with the US military or a tool for settling ethnic or sectarian scores.

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[Amonester]

1. bLiar must feel sorry for that also

he's so really sorry :grr:

[G_j]

2. ==