--- title: "UK Visa Portal exposed thousands of applicants’ passports and selfies — then called the lawyers on us" url: https://daily.dev/posts/uk-visa-portal-exposed-thousands-of-applicants-passports-and-selfies-then-called-the-lawyers-on-u-5gqs69q3t source_url: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/uk-visa-portal-spilled-thousands-of-applicants-passports-and-selfies-online-and-hasnt-fixed-the-leak type: article source: "TechCrunch" published: 2026-05-27T18:27:22.510Z updated: 2026-05-27T18:43:38.942Z tags: ["data-breach", "aws-s3"] reading_time: 5 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # UK Visa Portal exposed thousands of applicants’ passports and selfies — then called the lawyers on us **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary UK Visa Portal, a third-party (non-government) website charging fees for UK visa applications, publicly exposed at least 100,000 passports, selfie photos, and precise location data via a misconfigured public Amazon S3 bucket. A backend bug allowed enumeration of the bucket's file list. When TechCrunch contacted the company, it responded by sending attorneys from BakerHostetler and a PR firm rather than fixing the issue. The data was eventually secured after TechCrunch published its initial report. The company has not confirmed whether it will notify affected users or regulators as required under data breach notification laws. The incident highlights ongoing risks from cloud storage misconfigurations, particularly as governments expand identity verification requirements. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [UK Visa Portal spilled thousands of applicants’ passports and selfies online — and hasn’t fixed the leak](https://daily.dev/posts/uk-visa-portal-spilled-thousands-of-applicants-passports-and-selfies-online-and-hasn-t-fixed-the--otfdndqtg) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A hotel check-in system left a million passports and driver’s licenses open for anyone to see](https://daily.dev/posts/a-hotel-check-in-system-left-a-million-passports-and-driver-s-licenses-open-for-anyone-to-see-ogeugs0m5) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Cops told: Check your own DB before asking for passport data](https://daily.dev/posts/cops-told-check-your-own-db-before-asking-for-passport-data-ui4hplwd7) · The Register · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I found a Vulnerability. They found a Lawyer.](https://daily.dev/posts/i-found-a-vulnerability-they-found-a-lawyer--8i04jlej6) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#data-breach](https://daily.dev/tags/data-breach), [#aws-s3](https://daily.dev/tags/aws-s3) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/uk-visa-portal-exposed-thousands-of-applicants-passports-and-selfies-then-called-the-lawyers-on-u-5gqs69q3t)