Linxens passport component links draw scrutiny over UK and European document security

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Ciaran Ryan

29.05.2026

Linxens passport component links draw scrutiny over UK and European document security — Passport security concerns rise

Ownership links between passport component supplier Linxens and Chinese investors on a U.S. export-restricted list are drawing fresh scrutiny over the resilience of biometric document supply chains in Europe. The issue touches UK passports as well as French and Czech identity documents, raising questions about infrastructure risk, counterfeiting and supplier concentration.

Highlights

Linxens, a French maker of passport inlays, is owned via a holding company in which Beijing-based Wise Road Capital and JAC Capital, both on the U.S. entity list as of 2024, are leading investors.
Linxens supplies electronic inlays for British, French, and Czech government identity documents, manufacturing in Thailand under security certifications and audits, but faces scrutiny over supply chain exposure and intelligence risks.
The limited pool of specialist passport inlay suppliers means market disruption risk if export restrictions extend to Linxens, as alternative sources are scarce and switching is challenging.

Ownership structure and passport supply chain exposure

As first reported by the Financial Times, French company Linxens, which makes electronic inlays used in biometric passports, is owned through a holding company created by an investor group led by Beijing-based private equity firms Wise Road Capital and JAC Capital. Both firms were added to the U.S. government's entity list in 2024 over national security concerns tied to efforts to acquire sensitive semiconductor capabilities.

Linxens supplies blank inlays to Thales, the defence contractor hired by the Home Office to provide British passports, according to two people familiar with the matter and order documents reviewed by the newspaper. The inlays contain a chip and antenna, while the chip itself is made by another company and later personalised with passport holder data by Thales in the UK.

The company also has contracts with France's Imprimerie Nationale for passport inlays and with the Czech Republic's state-owned printer for chip-based identity card components. Linxens says its inlays are manufactured in Thailand at a secure site with relevant certifications and regular third-party security audits.

Security concerns and market implications

Liam Byrne, Labour chair of the House of Commons business and trade committee, says Linxens' links to export-restricted entities risk the integrity of critical national infrastructure. He says the findings will be folded into his committee's investigation into China and the UK economy.

The Home Office says Linxens' role presents no security threat and adds that passport security remains paramount. It says all confidential encryption technologies are controlled by His Majesty's Passport Office and that all British passports are personalised in the UK, meaning no personal data leaves the country.

Ciaran Martin, former head of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, says any risk from a supplier without access to inlays after personalisation would center on possible fraud and counterfeiting rather than encryption. A person familiar with Linxens says the company's detailed knowledge of identity documents creates an intelligence risk and adds there is a remote possibility hardware could be tampered with during manufacturing, although Linxens says it lacks access to transport and personalisation keys and has introduced technology to detect chip tampering.

The ownership structure also leaves Linxens outside the automatic reach of U.S. export restrictions on majority-owned subsidiaries because Wise Road and JAC Capital together hold less than 50% of its holding company. Still, a person familiar with the business says passport providers would struggle to find alternative suppliers if blacklist rules were ever widened to include Linxens, highlighting the limited depth of the specialist passport component market.

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