In reading some of the Zaptag discussion tonight, and reading a bunch on stuff about this, especially in the case of the Katrina scenarios where people lost all records to the floodwaters, I decided to do some deep research into the legality of self-scanned documents (as in YOU made the scan) of stuff like a birth certificate, a marrige license, a death certificate, a passport, a driver's license and so forth.

The results of the research in a word: worthless.

There is no legally acceptable way in the US for you to scan your documents and use the electronic facsimile as an equivilent to the original.

Here's one of the better-written stuff I found on the subject:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/30/BUGU2M1EU11.DTL

In the UK things are differerent:
http://www.datasave.ltd.uk/why_datasave/...38780360eba425a

In the USA, it's paper. All paperm everywhere. You can get certified (notarized) copies of some documents, but not all.

The research, or the scans?! Sorry, had to throw in that poorly executed attempt at humor there! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I think you are misunderstanding the purporse of such scans. I don't consider these scans as long term, 100% proof of identity. We're talking short term use in emergencies. Such scans may be good enough to receive immediate aid in a Katrina type disaster. Then again, maybe not. But you have to admit that scans can't be worse than nothing at all.

A scan of my driver's license may be worthless to prove age to buy beer with (all's you have to do is look at me to know I'm WAY over 21 years old!) However, it certainly lists my state, address, license number, etc. All things that could speed things up for some authority trying to track down acceptable documentation on me.

Scanned pictures of my family? I don't want to PROVE they're my family ... I just want a picture to stick on the wall that says "Have you seen this person?"

Scans of my credit cards (front and back)? Probably wouldn't serve to buy me anything in the grocery store, but they have account numbers and bank phone numbers on them so you could easily report the originals were lost.

As a side note,
Make sure to have robust password protection on all scanned documents, on everything that can be stolen (as in stolen identity)

Let's define robust, shall we? I've never known four people who could agree on a happy definition in this conext. Anything truely robust isn't going to be beaten by just throwing a dictonary at it, but anything that good, most people won't remember.

In all honesty, there is something we are forgetting here. Make notorized copies. Put them in a sealed envelope. Mail them to Aunt Susie May in Ohio or some other relative who is a couple hundred miles away. If you need them, she'll likely have them.

I'm holding that kind of thing for several of my friends at my folks, on the theory that if my parent's house isn't going to flood even if the ice caps melt over night and the firesafe should stand up to anything that else that can take out the house.

"Robust" or "strong" passwords...

Choosing good passwords

"The safest solution for choosing good passwords is to use a randomly generated or seemingly random password that:

* Is at least 6 characters long, and longer if possible.
* Contains a mix of upper and lower case letters.
* Includes numerals, special characters, and punctuation.
* Is not based on any personal information.
* Is not based on any dictionary word.

Examples of strong passwords include:

* De2#vu
* 5sd$oiP
* er89TI
...
Some security experts recommend using a password based on a mnemonic, such as an easily remembered phrase. For example, take the first letter of a each word in a phrase, then add a few special characters or numbers to it. For example, "lend me your ears" can become "lmye4%". "To be or not to be, that is the question" can become "2Bor!2b?". "

More info at: Wikipedia's password strength article

Scans of credit cards could be useful if you can get internet access since you can order without needing the physical card once you get to your destination.
Drivers license you can't get a copy of so what can you make notorized copies of and store elsewhere for this purpose. The Ohio BMV would not accept my notorized copy of my birth certificate and wanted an original which does no exist anymore due to a fire in the gov building where it was stored.
So what can I legally get notorized copies of and what could be used to re-establish my ID if I needed to evac?
The rules are somewhat open to interpretation and the belief in the person your working with at the time. Say you didn't have a drivers license (where do people leave it that it wouldn't be accessible should you need to leave, but thats another post) and just a copy. I opened a bank account and they photocopied my license to store in their files, so what if you explain to the person at the bank that you lost your license and all you have it this copy you left with your relative your staying with now and they believe you and photocopy the copy and put in in your file, no one would ever know but you and the banker.

*shakes head* But, you can be convicted on digital data logs. *shakes head*

I sure hope everyone got a chance to vote on a manual machine. Otherwise, I wouldn't trust your vote was truly counted.

There is more I could say, but, I don't want to hijack the thread...

I know that this isn't quite in the spirit of what you're talking about, like proving your ID or personal medical records, but since the Federal "Check 21" law was passed a few years ago giving scanned images of paper checks the same legal authority as the original checks, these digital images have zipped back and forth across the country by the tens of thousands per day. So, that's one area of common everyday living where the digital version of a paper document carries the same weight.