Inspector General Seeks Audio Recorders Disguised as Defense Dept. ID Cards

The government looks inward at times. The Office of the Inspector General recently posted a solicitation for credit card sized audio recorders to be disguised as Department of Defense (DoD) ID cards.

The Common Access Card (CAC) is the DoD’s “smart” ID card issued to all active-duty military personnel, Selected Reserve, civilian employees, and eligible contractor personnel, as well. According to the posted notice, the CAC-mimicking recorders must hold up to 4 gigabytes of data, which could be up to 120 hours of audio. The fake ID cards must look genuine enough to fool the “casual observer”: