Security researchers spotted an unprotected Microsoft Azure storage container on May 4. Inside sat 1.1 terabytes of images. Over 3.4 million files in total. Many showed driver’s licenses. Others captured intimate messages between inmates and their families. UpGuard analysts estimated at least 300,000 unique identification documents belonged to people who used Pay-Tel ‘s services. The company supplies tablets and communication tools to hundreds of jails, mostly across the Southeast. Visitors and family members must upload government-issued IDs and profile photos to connect with incarcerated loved ones. Those records ended up sitting on the open web. The bucket required no password. No authentication. Anyone who found the link could download the contents. Files dated back to 2018 and continued receiving fresh uploads in real time. And the exposure lasted until researchers stepped in. UpGuard notified Pay-Tel on May 7 through its privacy contact address. No immediate reply came.…