Hidy VaultKeeping passport and ID scans on your iPhone
Photos of your passport, ID card and insurance card are useful to have on hand, and valuable to anyone who wants to impersonate you. On most phones they sit in the camera roll or in Files, open to anyone with the passcode and synced to every device.
- Find them: search Photos for "passport" or "document", and check Files and Downloads.
- Move them into a vault for documents, then delete the originals and empty Recently Deleted.
- Next time, scan with Hidy's camera so the photo never reaches your library.
Why it matters
An ID scan gives someone your full name, date of birth, document number and photo in one image. That's enough to open accounts or pass identity checks in many places. Unlike a password, you can't change your passport number after a leak.
A Files lock is documented to stop edits and deletion, not reading, so see password protect a PDF on iPhone for what it does and does not cover.
Where they hide on a typical iPhone
- Photos: pictures taken for a rental, a bank or a visa form.
- Files and Downloads: PDFs from email or scanning apps.
- Messages and mail: attachments you sent to yourself.
- iCloud: all of the above, synced to your other devices.
Hidy Vault keeps photos, videos and documents in encrypted vaults that open only with a pattern you draw. No account, no Hidy server. Free for 3 vaults.
Move them into a vault
- In Hidy Vault, create a vault for documents, with its own pattern.
- Import the photos from Photos and the PDFs from Files.
- Delete the originals: Hidy offers to remove photos from your library; delete PDFs in Files yourself. Then empty Recently Deleted in both.
- Create the vault's recovery phrase and turn on encrypted iCloud backup. Losing these documents would be painful too.
Checklist
- Photos search for "passport", "ID", "licence" returns nothing.
- Files > Recently Deleted emptied.
- Old email attachments with ID scans deleted.
- Documents vault backed up, recovery phrase on paper.
Frequently asked questions
Can I search my photos for ID documents?
Yes. The Photos search understands text and objects in photos, so searching for words like passport or ID card usually finds scans.
Are documents limited in Hidy's free plan?
No. The free plan limits photos and videos per vault; documents and notes are included.
What about Apple Wallet IDs?
Where available, an ID in Apple Wallet is a separate system managed by Apple. This page is about photos and scans of documents.
