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A whistleblower has revealed an official investigation that the UK left behind confidential devices permitting the militant group to track down local individuals who worked with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the information breach were told to move homes and switch their contact details to ensure their safety from militant forces.

MPs are investigating the Conservative government's management of a serious breach of private information affecting almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had applied to come to the United Kingdom to escape militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet including private information, including identities, phone numbers and sometimes household data, was inadvertently disclosed by a worker employed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.

The incident was discovered only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had sought to relocate to Britain surfaced on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

Many believe there's a misunderstanding that militant forces lack comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire your phone number, they can trace your exact position. This is exactly how the unit did.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities possessed advanced decryption, Person A confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 relatives and co-workers of individuals impacted by the leak had been murdered.

A superinjunction regarding the breach was enacted in last year and prevented relevant facts about it from being made public until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the non-governmental organization associated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been compromised”.

“We advised that they moved if they could and changed their contact details. That constituted the primary information that, should militant forces had access to this information, would result in identification and capture,” she said.

Contested Findings

Person A disputed that an official review conducted by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the acquisition of the dataset by the Taliban was “minimally impact an individual's existing exposure”.

“The crucial point is that these individuals are not standing up to militant forces; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

She detailed terrible violence suffered by at-risk Afghans, comprising electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and severe beatings.

“There are cases of toddlers who have had their arms broken to try to get households to disclose hiding places,” she testified.