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A confidential source has told a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned sensitive equipment permitting Afghanistan's rulers to identify Afghans that had served with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands in Danger

Person A, called Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the data leak were told to relocate and alter their phone numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the Conservative government's response of a serious disclosure of personal details affecting nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to relocate to the UK to avoid militant rule.

How the Leak Was Discovered

A spreadsheet with private information, such as identities, contact details and sometimes household data, was inadvertently disclosed by an official employed at special operations center in last year.

The leak was discovered in late 2023, when identities of several individuals who had requested to move to the UK appeared on Facebook.

Militant Technology

Many believe there's a false assumption that the Taliban are without the same sort of facilities that we have,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That's precisely what the unit achieved.”

During testimony about if militant forces owned necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They've got everything.”

Impact of the Security Lapse

Initial findings submitted to the inquiry suggested that approximately fifty relatives and co-workers of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A legal restriction regarding the incident was implemented in last year and blocked all details concerning it from media reporting until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Because she was restricted, Person A and the volunteer organization she collaborated with advised individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been breached”.

“Our suggestion was that they relocate if they could and changed their contact details. Those were the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to these details, would cause their location being found,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that an official review carried out by a former official had been incorrect to state that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The crucial point is that these individuals are not standing up to the authorities; they live secretly. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained disturbing violence suffered by concerned people, including electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and severe beatings.

“Instances include young kids who have had limbs fractured to try to get the family to reveal locations,” she testified.