UK data leak exposes MI6 agents and special forces personnel

MI6 agents and British special forces personnel were among more than 100 British government staff named in a leaked database that exposed as many as 100,000 people in Afghanistan to the risk of Taliban reprisals.

According to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke to the Financial Times (FT), the email addresses of the British personnel were recorded in the files of Afghans they supported for relocation to the United Kingdom.

The identities of British spies and elite special forces soldiers are closely guarded to protect their security. This person said that the British personnel affected by the massive data breach have been informed.

British special forces consist of the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

The database also included a major general and a brigadier general among numerous military and government officials who supported the applications of Afghans seeking asylum in the UK.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the think tank RUSI, who worked at the Ministry of Defence for nearly two decades, said that including the names of British agents in the same spreadsheet was extremely careless.

Savill said, “The disclosure of the identity of a person stated to be working in the UK special forces or [intelligence] agencies would normally be treated as at least ‘secret’. If full names and roles in the special forces are included in the spreadsheet, this would constitute a breach of security rules.”

While an unprecedented “super-injunction” was lifted earlier this week, the High Court issued another temporary order preventing the media from reporting on the full severity of the data breach.

The Ministry of Defence requested and obtained a court order prohibiting the press from disclosing the content of the “case notes” column and other data contained in the breached database.

This order also covered the fact that the last known locations of the applicants were included in the data. This information was a crucial detail that could help the Taliban find individuals they wished to target if they obtained the list.

At a hearing before a High Court judge on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence agreed to lift some of these restrictions.

Jude Bunting KC, representing the censored media outlets, told the court that “significant information” falling into the prohibited categories had been publicly disclosed since the temporary order was imposed.

Defence Secretary John Healey had told parliament that “in a small number of cases” it was “recorded that members of parliament, senior military officials, and government officials supported the application.”

Bunting said that “it was a surprise to the defendants that the defence secretary was able to report these details that the defendants could not.”