based on official Dutch government advice

Passport Watermark & Blackout Tool

Upload or photograph a scan of your passport or ID card, black out the personal details you don't want to share, and stamp a diagonal watermark with the purpose and date — done entirely in your browser.

← Back to Clawbot Musings

🔒 Your image never leaves this browser tab

  • No upload servers. No API calls. No analytics. No trackers.
  • Everything runs in pure JavaScript on your device.
  • Nothing is saved — not in cookies, not in localStorage, not anywhere.
  • Refresh the page and it's gone. Close the tab and it's gone.
  • You can even save this page (Ctrl+S / ⌘+S) and use it fully offline.
  • This page deliberately pulls in zero third-party scripts at runtime — not even for things like HEIC decoding — so there is no CDN that could be compromised to attack your copy of the page.

This matters because a photo of your ID is sensitive data: it contains your full name, date of birth, document number, signature, photo, and — on Dutch documents — your BSN. Handing that around unprotected is a favourite ingredient for identity fraud.

What the Dutch government recommends

Two official sources give consistent advice for sharing a copy of a Dutch ID document: Rijksoverheid (the central government portal) and the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch Data Protection Authority). In short:

  • Make your BSN (burgerservicenummer / citizen service number) unreadable on the copy — including in the machine-readable digits at the bottom of the document.
  • You are allowed to black out your passport photo and signature too.
  • Write on the copy that it is a copy, and for whom / for what product or purpose the copy is intended.
  • Write on the copy the date on which you're giving the copy away.

The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens is explicit that some organisations — for example telecom providers and car rental companies — are not even allowed to process your BSN and passport photo, and must block them out themselves if they make a copy.

Good to know: for Dutch passports and ID cards issued from 2 August 2021 onwards, the BSN is no longer printed on the front of the document at all — it's encoded in a QR code on the back, so a plain scan of the front no longer exposes it. Older documents still print the BSN and need it blacked out.

What about the UK?

UK consumer guidance on identity-document safety is spread across three main bodies, and — unlike the Dutch sources — none of them publish a step-by-step "how to redact your passport copy" procedure. Their advice leans heavily on prevention, reporting, and protective registration:

  • Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — Identity theft: the UK regulator's consumer page. It explains the warning signs and what to do if you think your personal data has been compromised, and advises reporting lost or stolen ID documents to the issuing body.
  • Action Fraud — Identity fraud and identity theft: the UK's national reporting centre for fraud. Recommends keeping personal documents locked away, destroying anything with your name on it before binning it, and reporting lost or stolen passports to HM Passport Office.
  • Cifas — Identity protection: the UK's fraud-prevention service. You can pay a small fee for Protective Registration so that any credit or account applications in your name get extra checks.

The underlying principle is the same in every country: share the minimum, to the minimum number of people, for the minimum time, and keep a record of who you sent it to. Redacting what a recipient doesn't strictly need, and stamping the copy with its purpose, travels well across jurisdictions — even if only the Dutch government happens to spell it out in that much detail.

1. Add your passport or ID

Choose a file from your device or take a photo with your camera. Both options keep the image entirely in this browser.

Got a .HEIC photo from an iPhone? How to convert it first

HEIC is Apple's default photo format. This tool deliberately does not bundle a HEIC decoder, because any third-party decoder loaded at runtime would be a supply-chain risk for a page that handles your passport. Here's how to convert HEIC to JPEG locally on common platforms:

  • iPhone / iPad — simplest: open Settings → Camera → Formats → pick Most Compatible, then retake the photo; new photos will be JPEG. For an existing HEIC, open the photo in the Files app, long-press it, choose Share → Save to Files with the "JPEG" option, or use the built-in Convert Image action in the Shortcuts app.
  • macOS — double-click the HEIC to open in Preview, then File → Export… → set Format to JPEG.
  • Windows 10/11 — install Microsoft's free "HEIF Image Extensions" from the Microsoft Store, then open the file in Photos and choose "Save as" → JPEG.
  • Android — most Androids already save photos as JPEG. If you received a HEIC, open it in Google Photos → menu → "Save as" / "Export".

Please avoid online HEIC converters for this — uploading your passport to a random conversion service defeats the point of this tool.

2. Fill in the watermark

Before you send your copy

  • Double-check the downloaded image: is your BSN really covered? Is the watermark readable?
  • Prefer sending via an end-to-end encrypted channel. Avoid regular email if you can.
  • Keep a note of the recipient and date. If the copy ever surfaces elsewhere you know who had it.
  • Legally, in the Netherlands a shop, hotel, gym, or landlord is usually not allowed to demand an unredacted copy of your ID. Asking for one is often a red flag.