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A whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure sensitive technology enabling the Taliban to identify Afghans who worked with international military.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands at Risk

Person A, called Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the security lapse were advised to relocate and change their contact details to avoid detection from the ruling authorities.

MPs are currently examining the UK government's response of a massive breach of private information involving almost nineteen thousand individuals who had requested to move to the UK to flee the regime.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet with private information, including identities, contact details and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by a staff member working at special operations center in early 2022.

The incident became known in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to move to the UK appeared on Facebook.

Militant Technology

It appears there is a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers are without similar capabilities that we have,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. If they have mobile details, they can locate you down to within metres. This is exactly how specialized teams did.”

When questioned about regarding if authorities possessed sophisticated technology, Person A declared: “They possess all resources.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the committee estimated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and associates of individuals impacted by the incident had been executed.

A legal restriction regarding the breach was enacted in late 2023 and restricted all details concerning it from being made public until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the volunteer organization she collaborated with told affected households they were supporting that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and switched their contact details. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities acquired these details, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The source argued that internal investigation conducted by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the records by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The crucial point is that these Afghans are not standing up to the authorities; they live secretly. All concerns relate to past work history.”

The source explained disturbing treatment suffered by at-risk Afghans, involving electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse.

“Instances include young kids who have had limbs fractured to pressure the family to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.