ID safety in the UK: storing and sending copies of your passport and driving licence

Letting agents, employers and banks ask for copies of a passport or photocard licence all the time, and the copies tend to stay wherever they landed: the camera roll, an email thread, a chat. These two guides cover where a copy should live and when it should leave your phone.

For the copies you already have, read how to store UK documents safely on your phone: which locks to use, what syncs where, and which copies are worth deleting. When someone asks for a picture, check whether it is safe to send a picture of your ID first: whether the request is genuine, how to send a copy limited to what is needed, and where to report it if a copy reaches the wrong person.