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A whistleblower has told an official investigation that British authorities failed to secure classified devices allowing Afghanistan's rulers to track down local individuals who worked with international military.

Data Breach Puts Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, explained that people concerned by the information breach were told to relocate and change their phone numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

Lawmakers are currently examining official handling of a catastrophic disclosure of private information concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to move to the United Kingdom to flee the Taliban.

How the Leak Occurred

A spreadsheet with confidential details, comprising names, addresses and occasionally family information, was inadvertently disclosed by a staff member working at special operations center in last year.

The incident became known in late 2023, when identities of nine people who had requested to settle in Britain surfaced on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is a misunderstanding that militant forces are without comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have mobile details, they are able to track your precise location. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, the whistleblower stated: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Early investigations provided to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 kin and co-workers of individuals impacted by the incident had been murdered.

A superinjunction concerning the incident was implemented in August 2023 and restricted relevant facts regarding the matter from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the aid group she collaborated with informed Afghan families they were working with that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved when possible and altered their contact details. Those were the crucial data that, if authorities obtained these details, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower argued that government assessment carried out by a retired civil servant had been wrong to state that the acquisition of the dataset by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”.

“The crucial point is that these individuals are in hiding from the authorities; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

Person A described disturbing violence experienced by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“Instances include toddlers who have had limbs fractured to try to get the family to disclose hiding places,” she testified.