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A whistleblower has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure sensitive equipment permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans that had served with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, testified that people concerned by the data leak were told to move homes and alter their phone numbers to ensure their safety from the ruling authorities.

Members of Parliament are looking into the UK government's management of a catastrophic breach of private information involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had applied to come to Britain to flee the Taliban.

Data Disclosure Happened

An electronic document with private information, comprising identities, phone numbers and sometimes relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker stationed at special operations center in February 2022.

The breach was discovered months later, when details of multiple applicants who had applied to settle in Britain surfaced on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban do not have similar capabilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire mobile details, they can trace you down to within metres. That is what the unit accomplished.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities possessed advanced decryption, the source stated: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Preliminary research provided to the committee estimated that approximately fifty family members and co-workers of individuals impacted by the incident had been executed.

A legal restriction regarding the incident was put in force in August 2023 and prevented relevant facts regarding the matter from media reporting until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Because she was restricted, the source and the aid group she was working with told individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “concerns that certain devices had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they moved if they could and changed their contact details. Those were the crucial data that, if authorities obtained this information, would cause their location being found,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

Person A disputed that internal investigation carried out by an ex-government employee had been wrong to conclude that the obtaining of the information by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting the authorities; they live secretly. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained disturbing abuse experienced by affected individuals, including electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to pressure households to say where someone is,” Person A stated.