18 hours ago
Official who caused disastrous data breach still employed by government
A Ministry of Defence official inadvertently leaked a spreadsheet in February 2022 containing sensitive data of up to 100,000 Afghans seeking sanctuary in the UK.
The data breach, which included names, contact details, and case statuses of applicants to the Afghan resettlement scheme, put thousands of lives at risk from the Taliban.
Despite the catastrophic nature of the leak, the official responsible has not been fired and remains employed by the government, though not in the same role.
An unprecedented superinjunction, lasting almost two years, was imposed in September 2023 to prevent news of the leak from being published, which has now been lifted.
The incident prompted the secret evacuation of thousands of Afghans to Britain under a new resettlement scheme, with calls for an in-depth inquiry into the matter.
