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An informant has disclosed a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure sensitive devices enabling the militant group to track down local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, stated that people concerned by the data leak were told to move homes and change their contact details to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are investigating the UK government's handling of a massive disclosure of personal details concerning approximately 19k individuals who had asked to come to Britain to avoid the Taliban.

How the Leak Happened

A data file including their personal data, comprising names, contact details and occasionally family information, was accidentally leaked by a worker working at British military command in February 2022.

The leak came to light only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had requested to relocate to Britain surfaced on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban are without similar capabilities that we have,” she told MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire a contact number, they are able to track you down to within metres. That is what specialized teams did.”

When questioned about regarding if authorities had access to necessary encryption, Person A stated: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Preliminary research presented to the inquiry indicated that approximately fifty relatives and associates of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A legal restriction about the breach was enacted in August 2023 and blocked relevant facts about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the volunteer organization she collaborated with told affected households they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We advised that they change residence when possible and altered their mobile numbers. That constituted the two main details that, should militant forces obtained such data, would lead to identification and capture,” Person A explained.

Contested Findings

Person A disputed that an official review carried out by a former official had been incorrect to state that the possession of the information by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The crucial point is that these Afghans are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

She detailed disturbing treatment experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving electric shock torture, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of toddlers who have had bones crushed to force relatives to reveal locations,” she testified.