A group of German researchers led by Mathias Marx of the Chaos Computer Club purchased devices with sensitive data for biometric identification on eBay. They contain information about the military from the US contingent in Iraq and Afghanistan, namely: photos, names, fingerprints and iris scans. This was reported by The New York Times.

A total of six devices were purchased, the vast majority of which cost researchers less than $200 each. Thus, one of the memory cards contained biometric data of 2632 people who took part in hostilities near Kandahar (Afghanistan) in the summer of 2012. The memory card on the second device contained biometric information of a small group of US troops in Jordan in 2013. Another of the devices was purchased at a military auction, and the seller claims that he was not aware of its content.

Earlier, we said that Microsoft’s general product manager unwittingly “spoiled” the innovation that the company is preparing to introduce for the Notepad app for Windows 11.

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