Australians traveling to Bali have seen their passport details exposed to strangers following the latest glitch in Indonesia’s revised e-visa system.
At least three Australians who traveled separately to Bali were able to see the full names, dates of birth, passport numbers and photographs of other travelers when they scanned a QR code on their visa document.
The violation has been reported to Indonesia’s immigration department, which is “aware” of the issue, but it has not yet been resolved.
This is the second major e-visa data breach in Indonesia in recent months and comes after new smart e-gates were installed at airports across the island.
In a separate incident, another Australian traveler reported being able to view the sensitive details of two tourists from China on their e-visa document.
Melbourne woman Lauren Levin said travelers’ full names, dates of birth, passport numbers, photographs and other details appeared on her phone.
“I was able to see the visa details of two other Australians, and presumably they were also able to see my private details,” he told alphabet.
When I spoke to an immigration supervisor at the airport (in Bali), he told me that this had been going on for a while and that “everyone was affected, not just me.”
Travelers to Bali urged not to panic after latest e-visa data breach in Indonesia
The publication also saw screenshots of Ms. Levin’s cousin’s e-visa document for a separate trip two months ago.
The document showed the personal details of a man traveling to Bali from India.
Indonesia’s immigration department in Jakarta said staff were trying to fix anomalies in the system.
“We are aware of this issue, but we receive tens of thousands of visa on arrival applications every day,” the spokesperson said.
‘Some anomalies like this have happened before, but that doesn’t mean we are normalizing them. “We continue to learn from the problems to improve the system.”
Sensitive details of some Australian travelers to Bali have been compromised in data breaches
Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton, who was appointed special envoy for cyber security and digital resilience, urged Australians not traveling to Bali not to panic.
‘Your physical passport is still safe to travel and verify your identity. However, if you are concerned, you can cancel and apply for a new passport at any time,” he said. news.com.au.
It’s been a big week of news for the Indonesian island popular with Australian tourists after a Jetstar flight to Bali was forced to turn back shortly after take-off due to broken toilets on the plane.
It was also revealed that tourists could spend up to 20 years in a Bali prison cell if they overstay their visas or violate Indonesia’s strict new immigration laws.