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A whistleblower has revealed an official investigation that the UK failed to secure sensitive technology allowing Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger

The source, called Person A, explained that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to move homes and change their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.

Members of Parliament are investigating the UK government's management of a serious leak of personal details concerning nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK to avoid militant rule.

The Information Breach Happened

A spreadsheet including their personal data, comprising identities, phone numbers and occasionally family information, was mistakenly released by a worker employed at British military command in last year.

The breach came to light months later, when identities of multiple applicants who had applied to relocate to the UK appeared on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that the Taliban are without comparable resources that western nations possess,” she told the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have mobile details, they can locate you down to within metres. That's precisely what intelligence groups achieved.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities possessed necessary encryption, the whistleblower confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Early investigations submitted to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 kin and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A superinjunction regarding the breach was enacted in last year and prevented any information concerning it from public disclosure until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, the source and the non-governmental organization associated with told individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been breached”.

“We advised that they relocate where feasible and altered their phone numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if the Taliban had access to such data, would lead to their location being found,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

The source contested that an official review carried out by a retired civil servant had been wrong to state that the obtaining of the records by militant forces was “minimally impact current risk levels”.

“The crucial point is that these Afghans are not confronting the Taliban; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.”

She detailed terrible violence endured by at-risk Afghans, comprising electric shock torture, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to pressure the family to reveal locations,” she testified.