According to a source familiar with the situation, Google has temporarily disabled an undefined number of Afghan government email accounts, as concerns mount over the digital trail left by former officials and their international partners.
Reports have surfaced in the weeks since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan from a US-backed government, highlighting how biometric and Afghan payroll databases may be used by the new rulers to track down their foes.
Google (GOOGL.O) of Alphabet Inc. said in a statement on Friday that it was watching the situation in Afghanistan and "taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts." but did not confirm that Afghan government accounts were being locked down.
According to a former government employee, the Taliban are attempting to obtain the emails of former officials.
The employee revealed late last month that the Taliban had instructed him to keep the data on the servers of the ministry where he used to work.
"If I do so, then they will get access to the data and official communications of the previous ministry leadership," the employee explained.
According to the employee, he refused to comply and has since gone into hiding. Out of concern for the man's safety, Reuters is not naming him or his former government.
According to publicly available mail exchanger records, almost two dozen Afghan government entities, including the ministries of finance, industry, higher education, and mining, used Google's servers to process official emails. According to the records, the office of the presidential protocol in Afghanistan, as well as several local government organizations, used Google.
Information regarding previous administration officials, ex-ministers, government contractors, tribal friends, and foreign partners might be obtained by commanding government databases and emails.
"It would give a real wealth of information," said Chad Anderson, a security researcher with DomainTools, who assisted Reuters in determining which ministries used which email program. "Just even having an employee list on a Google Sheet is a big problem," he said, citing reports of government personnel facing retaliation.
Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O) email services were also utilized by many Afghan government organizations, including the ministry of foreign affairs and the president, according to mail exchanger data. However, it's unclear what efforts, if any, the software company is doing to prevent data from coming into Taliban's hands.
Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.
The Taliban's aim to control U.S.-built digital infrastructure, according to Anderson, is worth keeping an eye on. He claimed that intelligence gleaned from that infrastructure "may be far more valuable to a fledgling government than old helicopters."
