Storing your driver’s license or passport information on your computer in a text file or as a photograph may be convenient, but it also makes it easier for anyone with access to your hard drive—including hackers—to steal your identity. Modern password managers, like 1Password and LastPass, solve that problem by encrypting your sensitive data and keeping it away from prying eyes.
Encrypted password manager apps can store much more than user logins and passwords thanks to secure note features, and driver’s license-specific categories. In 1Password, for example, you can select the Driver License category to see fields that relate to your state-issued ID.
Adding a photo of your license to the secure entry is pretty easy, too, although there is a catch: The iOS version of 1Password doesn’t let you add images, but the desktop version of the app does. LastPass doesn’t have that limitation.
Encrypted password managers are a great place to store other important records you may need to reference, such as passports, credit card numbers, and vehicle license plate numbers and VINs. Just make sure you have a strong password protecting your sensitive data.
I’ve used mine for filling out job security questionnaires while away from home on job sites. Nice that you always have the ability to photocopy these documents, not all of us do, nor do we want to carry paper copies of them around.
How about natural or man-made disasters: earthquakes, floods, storms, fires, chemical or nuclear spills, wars, etc??? If your passport is buried under mud, water or ashes, can’t you envision needing to get that information at some point?
And the “risk of keeping a permanent copy” you mention is greatly reduced (if not eliminated) by the encryption mentioned in both the original article and my response.
For what?
I’m a US citizen that lives outside of the country. When I cross the border they want to see my Passport, not an image on my phone. When I got stopped by the RCMP a couple of years ago, they asked for my license, not a picture of it. There have been a couple of times I needed a copy of my DL or PPT, but in those very few occasions I just photocopy it. 99% of the time whomever wants to see these documents, we have to produce the actual documents, not a picture of them.
I’m not being snarky, though I realize this may be coming out that way. I just do not see a circumstance where I’d ever need to risk keeping a permanent copy of these essential documents on my computer, in iCloud, on DropBox, or on my iOS device.
What would it be good for?
A great idea for everyone to store this sort of data. For those not using a password manager, I recommend creating a 10-20Mb encrypted disc image in Disk Utility on your Mac, and giving it a secure password that you can remember for the 256-bit encryption. These can’t be opened on iOS devices, but when uploaded to DropBox or other cloud storage, they make a great backup method for photos of your family member’s passports and drivers licenses, and even text files of passwords that you may have stored elsewhere (be sure to delete the original text files after copying them to the disc image).
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201599