The safest place for a digital passport copy is an encrypted vault that only you can unlock, kept apart from your camera roll, email and messaging apps, with a backup and a recovery key stored somewhere else. This guide covers making a readable copy, where not to keep it, what to do if your phone goes missing, and what to check before you travel.
Why keep a copy of your passport at all?
A copy helps you find your document number and issue details quickly. It can also help with replacement paperwork if the original is lost or stolen. It is a reference, not a substitute. A scan does not replace a valid travel document or guarantee acceptance by an airline or border authority.
Why is a passport photo in your camera roll risky?
A passport identity page carries your full name, date of birth, photograph and document number in one image. In a camera roll, that image:
Appears every time you scroll or hand someone your phone to show them a picture.
Can be uploaded automatically by whatever photo backup you have turned on, under that service’s protections rather than yours.
Can be picked up by apps you have given photo-library access.
Lingers after you delete it, in “Recently deleted” and in downloads or message attachments you forgot about.
Importing a scan into a vault does not remove these copies. You have to clean them up yourself.
Step by step: how do I store a passport copy securely?
1. Make a readable copy. Photograph the identity page in good light. Check every edge, then open the image and zoom in to confirm the text is readable.
2. Redact anything you don’t need. A copy kept for reference doesn’t need to show more than your original does. Don’t add notes containing other secrets.
3. Import it into a vault with a useful name. For example, “Passport – identity page”. Filenames and folder names are encrypted.
4. Save your recovery key somewhere else. It unlocks the vault’s master key independently of your pattern, so treat it like a valuable physical key and keep it away from the phone.
5. Make an encrypted backup and test it. Export an encrypted backup and restore it once to make sure it works. A recovery key opens the lock; a backup carries the files. You need both.
6. Clean up the originals. Delete the scan from Photos, Recently deleted, downloads, email drafts and chats, and check whether an automatic photo backup already uploaded it.
How does Revault protect a passport scan?
The scan is encrypted on your device before it is stored. The vault has a random 256-bit AES-GCM master key. Your pattern and a random device secret, run through PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA-256 with 600,000 iterations, protect that key. The image, its filename and its thumbnail are all encrypted. The native iOS and Android apps keep vaults on-device unless you turn on private iCloud or Google Drive sync, create a share or export. The web app uses a passkey account and Revault’s cloud.
What it can’t hide: the service can see that an object of a certain size exists, and when it was stored. Revault has not had an independent security audit.
What happens if I lose my phone?
The vault stays locked. The native apps lock when backgrounded, and the web app locks when hidden or after five minutes of inactivity. Opening a vault requires its pattern.
Getting your files back on a new device needs your recovery key plus either your encrypted cloud copy (private iCloud, Google Drive or the web cloud) or an exported encrypted backup. Without a cloud copy or backup, an on-device vault goes with the phone.
If you think the vault key or recovery key has been exposed, move the files into a new vault with fresh keys. Changing a pattern does not revoke another device or invalidate old backups.
If the physical passport is also missing, follow your issuing authority’s process for reporting a lost or stolen passport. A scan helps you fill in the details.
Before you travel: a passport copy checklist
Keep a copy separate from the physical passport.
Open the encrypted copy offline on the device you will carry, before you leave.
Store your recovery key somewhere other than that device.
Confirm you have a recent encrypted backup.
Check that the scan is still readable and up to date.
Remember that a scan is not a travel document.
Common questions
Can Revault staff see my passport? No. The scan is encrypted before storage and there is no provider-held key.
Should I share my passport copy through a chat app? If someone genuinely needs it, use an encrypted share with an expiry, and send the secret separately.