Google locks Afghan government accounts as Taliban seek emails

Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.

In the weeks since the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan from a U.S.-backed government, reports have highlighted how biometric and Afghan payroll databases might be exploited by the new rulers to hunt their enemies.

In a statement on Friday, Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being locked down, saying that the company was monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and “taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts.”

One employee of the former government has told Reuters the Taliban are seeking to acquire former officials’ emails.

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