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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Holly Bancroft

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.

IN FULL

MoD official responsible for catastrophic Afghan data breach that cost billions still works for government

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