How to send a copy of your ID safely
Employers, landlords, schools, banks and online sellers routinely ask for a copy of a government ID, and most of the time the request is legitimate. But a clear copy of an ID is also what someone needs to open an account, register a SIM or borrow money in your name. You cannot always refuse, but you can decide how much you hand over and make the copy less useful to anyone other than the person who asked for it.
Send only what was asked for
Ask which ID is required and whether both sides are needed. The back of many IDs carries extra details — a signature, a blood type, an emergency contact — that the recipient may have no use for. If one ID is enough, do not send three "just in case".
If the ID sits inside a longer document, such as a page of scanned requirements, split out only the page that is needed rather than forwarding the whole file.
Hide the numbers they do not need — properly
Many requests only need your name and photo to confirm who you are, not every number on the card. Where the recipient does not need a field — an ID number, an address, a signature — remove it before sending. Ask first if you are unsure: some processes, such as opening a bank account, genuinely need the full ID.
Removing means redacting, not covering. A black box drawn over a PDF with an ordinary editor is a separate layer; the text or image underneath is still in the file and can often be copied out or uncovered. Use a redaction tool that deletes the content under the box, and check the result by trying to select and copy the hidden area.
Mark the copy for one purpose
A watermark such as "For [company] job application only — 28 Sept 2026" across the image makes the copy far less useful for anything else. If it later turns up somewhere it should not be, the mark also shows where it came from.
Place the mark across the ID itself, not in an empty corner where it can be cropped away, and keep it light enough that the recipient can still read what they need. A watermark discourages misuse; it does not make a copy impossible to abuse, so it works alongside sending less, not instead of it.
Send it through the right channel, then clean up
Prefer the official upload form or the company email address of the person handling your application over a personal chat account. If you must send it by email, you can put a password on the PDF and share the password another way, such as a text message, so one intercepted message is not enough.
The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act 10173) requires organisations that collect personal information to have a legitimate purpose and to protect it, and it gives you the right to ask how your data will be used. Keep a note of who you sent your ID to and when, and delete stray copies from your downloads and chat threads once the process is done.