Parliament finds MoD data breach of Afghan relocation scheme was foreseeable

A parliamentary Defence Committee report says the MoD's management of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was a 'foreseeable' systemic failure, driven by inappropriate tools (Excel), weak operating procedures, insufficient training and an overreliance on secrecy that undermined accountability. The breach exposed personal data of more than 18,500 ARAP applicants, stemming from a spreadsheet shared with a trusted third party, and has prompted reforms as ARAP closes in 2025, with ongoing scrutiny of UK Special Forces involvement and governance of the scheme.