Scanning IDs and sensitive documents safely
Published September 26, 2026
Sooner or later someone legitimate — a bank, a landlord, an employer — asks for a scan of an identity document or another sensitive record. The request is normal; sending a full-resolution image of your entire identity into someone’s inbox without a second thought is the part worth fixing. A few habits reduce the risk substantially.
Scan locally, keep control
For sensitive documents, the scanning tool itself is the first decision. Use one that processes the image on your device — a browser-side scanner like Scandut or your phone’s built-in notes/files scanner — rather than a converter site that uploads your ID to an unknown server. That way the only copy that exists is the one you deliberately share.
Share the minimum: masking
Most requests do not actually need every field on the document. If the recipient needs to verify your name and date of birth, the document number or address may be maskable — many institutions explicitly allow or even instruct this. Cover the unneeded fields before or after scanning: a strip of paper laid over the field at shooting time is the low-tech version; any image editor’s solid rectangle works afterwards. Never use a blur or pixelation for masking — blurs can sometimes be partially reversed, while a flat black box cannot.
Watermark the purpose
A widely recommended habit for ID copies: write the purpose and date across the image — "For X Bank account opening, 2026-09-26" — in a way that overlaps the document without hiding key fields. A copy stamped with one purpose is far less useful to anyone who obtains it later for another purpose. Do this on the scan, not the original.
Deliver and clean up
Prefer the institution’s own upload portal over email — portals are usually access-controlled, while email copies live forever in two sent/received folders. If email is unavoidable, put the scan in a password-protected file and send the password by another channel. Afterwards, delete the scan from your chat threads, sent mail and downloads folder; keep your own copy, if needed, in your organized document folder rather than scattered across apps.