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An informant has disclosed a parliamentary probe that the UK left behind classified devices allowing Afghanistan's rulers to track down local individuals that had served with allied troops.

Data Breach Puts Thousands at Risk

The source, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the security lapse were told to change residences and switch their phone numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the UK government's handling of a catastrophic breach of personal details involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had asked to move to the UK to avoid militant rule.

Data Disclosure Occurred

A spreadsheet including private information, comprising names, contact details and occasionally relative details, was accidentally leaked by an official working at British military command in February 2022.

The incident became known in late 2023, when details of multiple applicants who had requested to move to Britain surfaced on online platforms.

Militant Technology

It appears there is a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers are without comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. If they have a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That's precisely what the unit accomplished.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities had access to advanced decryption, the source stated: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the investigation suggested that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and co-workers of people concerned by the breach had been killed.

A superinjunction about the incident was enacted in last year and prevented all details concerning it from public disclosure until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the volunteer organization she was working with told affected households they were supporting that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and changed their mobile numbers. Those were the primary information that, if authorities obtained such data, would lead to them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A contested that internal investigation performed by a former official had been mistaken to state that the possession of the dataset by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are in hiding from the authorities; they live secretly. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

The source explained horrific abuse endured by at-risk Afghans, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to try to get relatives to disclose hiding places,” the whistleblower revealed.