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A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned sensitive technology allowing the Taliban to track down Afghans who collaborated with international military.

Data Breach Puts Numerous in Danger

The source, called Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were instructed to move homes and switch their phone numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Lawmakers are looking into the UK government's handling of a catastrophic disclosure of personal details affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to come to the UK to flee militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet including private information, including names, addresses and in some cases family information, was inadvertently disclosed by an official working at UK special forces headquarters in last year.

The breach became known months later, when the names of nine people who had applied to settle in the UK were posted on Facebook.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers do not have similar capabilities that we have,” Person A informed lawmakers.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain a contact number, they are able to track you down to within metres. That's precisely what specialized teams achieved.”

When questioned about if militant forces possessed sophisticated technology, Person A confirmed: “They possess all resources.”

Aftermath of the Information Leak

Early investigations submitted to the committee suggested that approximately fifty family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the incident had been executed.

A legal restriction about the incident was put in force in August 2023 and prevented any information regarding the matter from being made public until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group associated with told Afghan families they were working with that they had “concerns that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they change residence where feasible and switched their mobile numbers. That constituted the primary information that, should militant forces acquired these details, would cause identification and capture,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

Person A argued that internal investigation conducted by a former official had been wrong to conclude that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not standing up to the Taliban; they live secretly. Everything boils down to their previous employment.”

Person A described terrible abuse suffered by affected individuals, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“We have had young kids who have had their arms broken to pressure households to disclose hiding places,” Person A stated.