Google locks Afghan government accounts

Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, but did not admit to a complete lockdown of the accounts. In a statement on Friday, Alphabet Inc's Google 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". Former government officials, activists, and vulnerable groups fear reprisal as the Taliban has taken control of Kabul.

The accounts were completely locked down as the information could be used to track down former government officials the group would harm. Around two dozen officials, with some in the ministries of finance, industry, higher education and mines, used Google for official communications, according to Reuters, along with local governments and the office of the presidential protocol. Publicly available mail exchanger records show that some two dozen Afghan government bodies used Google's servers to handle official emails, including the ministries of finance, industry, higher education, and mines. Afghanistan's office of presidential protocol also used Google, according to the records, as did some local government bodies

Commandeering government databases and emails could provide information about employees of the former administration, ex-ministers, government contractors, tribal allies and foreign partners. Mail exchanger records show that Microsoft Corp's email services were also used by several Afghan government agencies, including the ministry of foreign affairs and the presidency.