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A whistleblower has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities left behind confidential equipment allowing the Taliban to track down local individuals that had served with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Thousands in Danger

Person A, called Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to change residences and switch their contact details to avoid detection from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are looking into the UK government's response of a serious disclosure of private information concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had asked to come to the UK to flee militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet including their personal data, such as identities, phone numbers and occasionally household data, was mistakenly released by a staff member employed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The breach came to light months later, when the names of nine people who had requested to settle in the UK surfaced on social media.

Regime's Resources

Many believe there's a misunderstanding that the Taliban do not have comparable resources that western nations possess,” Person A informed lawmakers.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track you down to within metres. This is exactly how specialized teams did.”

When questioned about regarding if authorities possessed necessary encryption, the source stated: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Preliminary research presented to the committee suggested that no fewer than forty-nine family members and associates of people concerned by the incident had been killed.

A gag order regarding the breach was put in force in August 2023 and restricted relevant facts concerning it from media reporting until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the volunteer organization she was working with told affected households they were assisting that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they relocate when possible and switched their phone numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if the Taliban obtained such data, would result in their location being found,” the source testified.

Contested Findings

The source contested that an official review carried out by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the obtaining of the dataset by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are in hiding from the Taliban; they live secretly. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained horrific treatment endured by concerned people, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to try to get the family to say where someone is,” Person A stated.