· Written and maintained by Nonimo
To redact a passport copy is to cover what the person receiving it doesn’t need: the signature, the two machine readable lines at the bottom, your place of birth, and sometimes the passport number or the date of birth. What stays visible is enough to prove who you are; what you cover no longer travels with the copy.
The tool at the top of this page reads the photo or PDF of your passport in your browser and puts a chip on each field it recognizes. Everything starts visible, and you decide, field by field, what to cover with a solid black box. Your passport never leaves your device. It covers instead of blurring: a blur can sometimes be read, a solid box burned into the image leaves nothing underneath.
If the copy is going to a bank or a landlord, you can also write who it’s for and the date across it, as explained on the page to watermark a passport copy. Brokerages that receive those copies can see how to use AI at a real estate brokerage without putting the client’s details in the prompt.
How to redact a passport copy
1. Add your passport
Take a picture with your phone or drop a scan, as JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC or PDF. The tool recognizes the data page of the US passport and puts a chip on each field. If the photo is tilted, crop and straighten it first.
2. Choose what to cover
Each field has its chip, and one tap covers it or shows it again: name, passport number, photo, signature, date of birth, place of birth, issue date and expiration date. The bottom lines have no chip of their own: cover the name, number, date of birth or expiration date and the matching characters in those lines go too. “Show everything” undoes it all, and “Redact by hand” lets you drag, or use a finger on a phone, over any other area.
3. Download the redacted copy
As PNG, JPG or PDF, with the boxes burned into the image and none of the original photo’s metadata. One page at a time: if they also want the passport card, prepare it on its own.
What to redact on a US passport, field by field
The Next Generation passport the State Department began issuing in 2021 has a polycarbonate data page with laser-engraved details. A copy of the open book usually shows the data page and the page above it, where you sign. The recipient almost always needs your name and photo; the rest depends on the request.
| Field | Where | On a copy you send |
|---|---|---|
| Name, photo, expiration date | Data page | Leave visible: that’s what they check |
| Passport number | Data page, top right | Leave if requested (a bank, for example), cover otherwise |
| Date of birth | Data page | Cover unless they verify your age |
| Place of birth | Data page | Cover: almost nobody needs it |
| Issue date | Data page | Cover unless requested |
| Signature | Page above the data page | Cover |
| The two lines at the bottom (MRZ) | Bottom of the data page | Each field you cover is covered here too |
The passport number, perforated through the book
The number is a letter followed by eight digits. On Next Generation books it sits at the top right of the data page and again at the bottom of every page, so a photo of almost any page shows it, not just the data page. An employer filling in Form I-9 writes down the document number, since a US passport is a List A document on the USCIS list of acceptable documents. It does that from the original passport, examined in person or on a live video call under the DHS alternative procedure, and any copy it keeps, which an E-Verify employer must do for a passport, has to be clear and unaltered, so never send a redacted one for the I-9. A landlord who only needs to see who you are usually doesn’t need the number. If the request doesn’t mention the number, cover it.
The two lines at the bottom repeat the page
The two rows of letters, digits and chevrons are the machine readable zone. ICAO Doc 9303, the standard for travel documents, puts your name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and expiration date in them, with check digits, so a scanner reads the page in one pass. Covering the number above while leaving these lines readable leaves it in plain text. In the tool, covering the name, number, date of birth or expiration date covers the matching characters in the lines too.
What should stay visible, depending on who asks
Redacting doesn’t mean covering everything, and a new job isn’t a redaction case at all: the employer checks your original passport for the I-9, so a redacted copy has no part in it. A bank opening an account needs to verify your identity too, so ask what they accept before you hide the number. A landlord or a tour company usually needs far less: name and photo, and the rest can go.
Before you show your passport to an AI, to understand a field or fill in a visa form, go further: tap every chip so nothing identifies you. The wider list of personal details to remove before a file goes to an AI has its own guide. For the wallet-size card, there is a page to redact a passport card, and for a license, the guide to redact a driver’s license copy.
Nonimo is the software that does this on your own computer: it redacts client names and IDs before your text reaches ChatGPT. No account needed, and the app does it without your files leaving your machine.
Common questions
What should I redact on a copy of my passport?
Usually the signature, your place of birth and the two machine readable lines at the bottom, plus the date of birth and the issue date when nobody asked for them. Name, photo and expiration date normally stay visible, because that is what the recipient checks. The passport number stays only if the request needs it.
How do I redact my passport number?
Tap the Passport number chip and a solid box covers it. The two lines of letters and chevrons at the bottom repeat the number, so its characters there are covered at the same time. Check before you hide it, though: a bank may need it. Form I-9 is different: the employer records the number from your original passport, not from a redacted copy.
What are the two lines at the bottom of a passport?
The machine readable zone, or MRZ. Under ICAO Doc 9303, the international standard for passports, it holds your name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and expiration date, with check digits, in two lines of 44 characters a scanner reads at once. Hiding a field above while leaving these lines readable hides very little.
Is blurring a passport number enough?
Better not. A light blur sometimes lets digits show through, especially on a sharp photo, and a rectangle drawn in some PDF editors leaves the text underneath. The tool puts solid boxes burned into the image: in the file you download, there is nothing under a covered area, no layer to remove and no annotation to peel off.
Should I redact the signature on my passport copy?
Yes, unless someone specifically asked to see it. On a copy, a signature has no job except being copied. A photo of the open book often catches the page above the data page, where the signature line is, so tap the Signature chip or drag over it with Redact by hand.
Does my passport get uploaded to a server to redact it?
No. Your passport never leaves your device: it is read and redacted in your browser. The file you download, as PNG, JPG or PDF, has the covered areas burned into the image and none of the original photo's metadata, such as the GPS location or the phone model. There is no account to create either.
Can I show my passport to an AI without risk?
Show it a copy where nothing points to you anymore. In the tool, tap every chip, from your name and passport number to the photo and the dates, so each field is covered. The AI then sees the layout and the labels, which is enough to explain a field or help fill in a form, and nothing that identifies you.
What if I sent an unredacted passport copy to a scammer?
Watch for misuse and act fast if it appears. If the passport itself was lost or stolen, report it with Form DS-64: the State Department then invalidates it. If your details are already being used, report it at IdentityTheft.gov and place a fraud alert with one of the three credit bureaus.