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A whistleblower has revealed a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned sensitive technology enabling the Taliban to identify Afghans who worked with western forces.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands in Danger

The source, identified as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to relocate and switch their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the ruling authorities.

MPs are investigating official management of a serious breach of private information concerning almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had requested to move to the United Kingdom to escape militant rule.

How the Leak Happened

A data file containing their personal data, comprising names, phone numbers and in some cases family information, was mistakenly released by an official employed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.

The leak came to light in late 2023, when the names of multiple applicants who had requested to settle in the UK surfaced on online platforms.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that Afghan rulers are without the same sort of facilities that western nations possess,” Person A informed MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire your phone number, they can locate you down to within metres. That's precisely what the unit accomplished.”

During testimony about whether the Taliban had access to sophisticated technology, the whistleblower stated: “They've got everything.”

Consequences of the Information Leak

Preliminary research presented to the committee indicated that approximately fifty kin and co-workers of people concerned by the breach had been murdered.

A gag order regarding the leak was put in force in late 2023 and blocked any information regarding the matter from media reporting until mid-2025.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the aid group she was working with advised individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “concerns that certain devices had been breached”.

“We advised that they moved where feasible and changed their mobile numbers. These represented the two main details that, if authorities acquired these details, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower disputed that an official review carried out by a retired civil servant had been wrong to conclude that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting the Taliban; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to past work history.”

She detailed terrible violence experienced by concerned people, involving electric shock torture, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get the family to say where someone is,” she testified.