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An informant has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure sensitive technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, testified that people concerned by the security lapse were instructed to change residences and change their phone numbers to ensure their safety from the ruling authorities.

Lawmakers are looking into official handling of a massive leak of confidential data involving almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had asked to come to the UK to avoid the regime.

How the Leak Was Discovered

A spreadsheet containing confidential details, comprising identities, phone numbers and occasionally family information, was accidentally leaked by a worker employed at British military command in last year.

The breach was discovered only in August 2023, when details of several individuals who had sought to relocate to Britain appeared on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

Many believe there's a misunderstanding that the Taliban lack comparable resources that allied forces use,” Person A informed MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain your phone number, they can trace your precise location. That is what intelligence groups accomplished.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, Person A confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Early investigations provided to the committee indicated that approximately fifty relatives and co-workers of Afghans affected by the incident had been killed.

A superinjunction about the incident was enacted in August 2023 and restricted any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the volunteer organization she was working with informed affected households they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they change residence when possible and changed their phone numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities had access to this information, would result in their location being found,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The source contested that government assessment performed by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the acquisition of the information by the regime was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are not confronting the authorities; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.”

She detailed terrible abuse experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving electrocution, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults.

“Instances include young kids who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to disclose hiding places,” the whistleblower revealed.