Data leak of Afghan scheme was 'serious departmental error' says defence secretary

Personal information about more than 33,000 Afghans seeking relocation to the UK after the Taliban takeover was released in error by a defence official. The Ministry of Defence tried for nearly two years to cover up the leak and its consequences. 'This was a serious departmental error,' said defence secretary, John Healey. 'This official mistakenly believed that they were sending the names of 150 applicants. However, the spreadsheet in fact contained personal information associated to 18,714 Afghans who had applied either to the ex gratia or the Arap [Afghan relocations and assistance policy] scheme on or before the 7 January 2022,' added Healey Thousands of Afghans relocated to UK under secret scheme after data leak Thousands offered UK asylum in secret scheme after personal data of Afghans who helped British forces leaked by mistake – live