British military Afghan data breach exposed: government cover-up risked 100,000 lives

The British military faces scrutiny after a catastrophic data breach exposed up to 100,000 Afghans to potential Taliban retaliation, prompting successive governments to deploy an unprecedented legal cover-up lasting nearly two years.

In February 2022, a British soldier accidentally transmitted a database containing 33,000 Afghan records to unauthorized recipients while attempting to verify sanctuary applications. The breach remained secret until August 2023, when an anonymous Afghan threatened to publish the information on Facebook.