Wired berichtet über sogenannte „spy rocks“, kleine Überwachungsminen, die das US-Militär in Afghanistan hinterlässt und die möglicherweise noch bis zu mehrere Jahre aktiv sind. 7’500 sogenannter „unattended ground sensors“, kurz UGS, setzen die USA auch zu Grenzkontrolle an der mexikanischen Grenze ein.
Palm-sized sensors, developed for the American military, will remain littered across the Afghan countryside – detecting anyone who moves nearby and reporting their locations back to a remote headquarters. Some of these surveillance tools could be buried in the ground, all-but-unnoticeable by passersby. Others might be disguised as rocks, with wafer-sized, solar-rechargeable batteries that could enable the sensors’ operation for perhaps as long as two decades, if their makers are to be believed.