How to best respond to a request to send a passport scan by unsecured email?
It is not uncommon for travel or holiday accommodation companies to ask for a scan of your passport by email. Sometimes local laws require them to keep a record of the passport numbers of all visitors. I'm happy to provide that information but you usually have to send it in an unsecured email, which may have consequences as discussed in another question.
Could these companies be more responsible, and provide a public cryptographic key at least?
Are there other steps you should take to protect yourself, if you do send by unsecured email?
Best Answer
When asked to send any sensitive information electronically, when the recipient is not going to be willing or able to engage in complicated security measures, I typically put the file in a secure location that I control, like Dropbox, and send a link to that file. When the recipient has confirmed receipt, I remove the contents.
Anyone who intercepts the email can still access the document, but it reduces the window of opportunity from forever down to a minute or two. Someone who needs time to process a vast stream of email or someone who hacks into the email account at a later date will have only an expired and worthless link.
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Is it safe to scan and email passport?
It is safe to email your passport. However, you should take steps to secure all your information by blocking out unnecessary data, using end-to-end encryption, protecting the files with a password, or using a file hosting service. You should also be sure that you send them to the correct person.How do you scan a passport and send it to email?
About This ArticleHow To scan Passport Clearly \u0026 Properly ?
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Answer 2
I would think twice about sending a scan of my passport to anyone. But if I was convinced, I would scan it, import the scan into Microsoft Word, and then protect the Microsoft Word document with a password. Then I would share the password with the recipient by telephone. Finally I would attach the Microsoft Word document to an email.
The same can be done with Adobe Acrobat, if you have it.
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