Keeping your passport and ID on your iPhone

Photos of your passport end up in your library and in a searchable Identity Documents collection. Where to keep a copy, and what Digital ID in Wallet is for.

A photo of your passport can save you when the real one goes missing abroad. The same photo can also help a stranger open accounts in your name, so it deserves better than sitting next to your vacation pictures.

Where a passport photo ends up by default

When you photograph a document with the Camera, it joins your library like any other picture. Apple says the Utilities section in Photos can find photos based on their content, including identity documents. Anyone who opens Photos on your unlocked phone can open that collection, and many people do not know it exists.

With iCloud Photos on, the picture also reaches your other devices and iCloud. Under standard data protection, Photos in iCloud are encrypted with keys Apple holds. With Advanced Data Protection, they are end-to-end encrypted.

Better places for a copy

A vault with its own lock. In Backroom, take the picture with the in-app camera so it never reaches your camera roll, or import a scan from Files. It stays encrypted on your iPhone and only your pattern or recovery phrase opens it. Since there is no cloud sync, it will not help if you lose the phone and have no backup.

A locked PDF. Scan the page in the Preview app and add a password. This guide has the steps, and you can email the locked file to yourself as an offsite copy.

Paper. A photocopy in a hotel safe or with someone at home still works when your phone is dead or stolen.

Clean up the old copies

1. Search Photos for the document and check Utilities for an identity documents collection.
2. Delete each copy, then open Recently Deleted and delete it there too. Apple keeps deleted items in Recently Deleted for 30 days otherwise.
3. Look in Messages, Mail and Files for places you sent or saved it.
4. Check chats where you sent it to a hotel or an employer. You usually cannot pull those back, but you can delete your side.

What Digital ID does

Apple’s Digital ID is created in Wallet by scanning your passport and completing a check with your face. You need an unexpired US passport, Face ID or Touch ID, and an Apple Account with two-factor authentication. TSA says you must still carry an acceptable physical ID. Use it for what it was built for, and keep a protected copy separately if you want one for emergencies.