Guide · 2 min read
How to send a photo of your ID or passport more safely
Landlords, banks and online services ask for a copy of your ID. What lowers the risk of impersonation, and how to prepare the photo without uploading it.
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Renting a flat, opening an account, signing up for a gig platform: more and more processes ask for a photo of your identity document. It is one of the most sensitive files you can send, because with it someone can try to take out services or credit in your name. You cannot always refuse, but you can reduce the risk.
Before sending it, ask
- What do they need it for? Sometimes showing it in person or on a video call is enough.
- Do they need both sides? The back often holds extra details, such as your address.
- How should I send it? The organisation’s official channel is better than any email or chat app.
Prepare the photo
1. Take the photo yourself, on a background that says nothing about where you are. A plain table is fine. Avoid glare over the details.
2. Cover what they did not ask for. If they only need to check your name and photo, you can cover the document number, signature or date of birth where they are not essential. Do it with Redact image using a black box, which destroys those pixels rather than merely covering them.
3. Add a purpose mark. Writing something like “Copy for the flat rental at X Street, October 2026” across the copy makes it harder to reuse for anything else. Your phone’s photo editor can do it; let the text run across the photo and the details without hiding them completely.
4. Remove the metadata. A phone photo records where and when it was taken. When you export from Redact image, the image already comes out with no metadata. If you did not cover anything, run it through Strip metadata.
5. Adjust the size if required. If the form wants it under 1 MB or 200 KB, use Compress image with the exact limit.
What not to do
- Upload it to unknown sites to compress it, convert it or turn it into a PDF. Those sites receive your full document. Every Pseudononymous tool runs on your device and has no server to upload anything to.
- Leave it in your camera roll for ever. Once it is sent, delete it from your phone and your cloud backup, or keep it somewhere encrypted.
- Send it to a group chat or to an address you have not been able to verify.
If it has to be a PDF
If they want the document as a PDF with both sides together, prepare each side as above, turn them into PDFs with your phone’s or computer’s print function, and combine them with Merge PDF.