The Ministry of Defence admitted 49 separate data breaches in four years at the unit handling relocation applications from Afghans seeking safety in the UK. Four breaches were already public, including a 2022 spreadsheet leak containing details of almost 19,000 people fleeing the Taliban. That spreadsheet breach led to thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK and was revealed after a High Court gagging order was lifted. The Information Commissioner characterised the incident as a one-off failure of usual checks. Lawyers representing affected Afghans said the new figures suggest lax security and demanded transparency. The MoD refused to provide details of each breach. ARAP was set up in April 2021 to help people who had worked with British armed forces in Afghanistan.
What began as an isolated incident, which the Ministry of Defence initially sought to keep from public view, has now escalated into a series of catastrophic failings. "We urge the Ministry of Defence to be fully transparent with both those affected and the wider public. Victims should not be forced to learn the truth through legal action or news reports."
However, lawyers representing Afghans affected by data breaches said the new figures, released to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, raised concerns about a culture of lax security among those working on the resettlement scheme. The MoD has refused to provide any details of the nature of each breach but incidents which have previously been made public include officials inadvertently revealing the email addresses or other personal details of applicants to third parties.
Collection
[
|
...
]