Afghan allies at risk in new data breach

A SECOND email data breach has been uncovered at the Ministry of Defence in the team responsible for relocating Afghan allies to the UK.

Dozens of people who may be eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) were mistakenly copied into an email earlier this month, the BBC reported.

Their email addresses were visible to all recipients, rather than being blind-copied to protect their identity.

Under Arap, Afghans who assisted UK efforts, such as interpreters, can apply to come to the UK to escape persecution by the Taliban.

The error is the second of its kind after Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, told MPS on Tuesday a staff member had been suspended for the first breach in which the identities of more than 250 Afghan allies were revealed.

The details of 55 people were included in the email referred to in the latest investigation, the BBC said.

An MOD spokesman said: “We have been made aware of a data breach that occurred earlier this month by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy team. This week, the Defence Secretary instigated an investigation into data handling within that team.

“Steps have now been taken to ensure this does not happen in the future. We apologise to those affected and extra support is being offered to them.”