Spies and SAS personnel among 100-plus Britons included in Afghan data leak
Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK after the Taliban takeover.
The dataset, containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), was released 'in error' in February 2022 by a defence official.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) became aware of the breach more than a year later, when excerpts of the spreadsheet were anonymously posted in a Facebook group in August 2023.
Other leaked details included the names and contact details of the Arap applicants and names of their family members.
In a statement on Tuesday, after an unprecedented superinjunction was lifted by a high court judge, the defence secretary, John Healey, offered a 'sincere apology' on behalf of the government for the data breach.
He later told the Commons the spreadsheet contained 'names and contact details of applicants and, in some instances, information relating to applicants' family members, and in a small number of cases the names of members of parliament, senior military officers and government officials were noted as supporting the application'.
'This was a serious departmental error,' he added.
The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak happened and when it was discovered more than a year later.
Cartlidge later asked Healey about reports that someone other than the original person who leaked the data had been engaged in blackmail.
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