How to keep medical documents and insurance cards private on iPhone

• The camera roll is shown whenever someone opens Photos on your unlocked phone, and in the photo picker of any app you allow to see your library.
• With iCloud Photos on, the picture also appears on every device signed in to the same Apple Account.
• Deleting a photo only moves it to Recently Deleted first, so a copy stays for a while.

How to hide photos on iPhone explains what the Hidden album does and does not protect.

Many insurers and clinics have their own app or a patient portal that shows your card or results when you sign in. If your insurer supports it, you may be able to add the card to Apple Wallet. Use that when it is offered, because there is then no loose picture to protect.

If a paper original is all you have, or an office asks for an uploaded copy, move to step 2.

A scan is a tidy PDF with straightened pages, and it does not land in the camera roll if you scan to Files or to a vault.

1. 1Open Notes, create or open a note, tap the camera icon and choose Scan Documents, or use the Files app: tap the three dots and choose Scan Documents.
2. 2Scan every page, tap Save, then pick where it goes.

Notes keeps the scan inside the note, which is not locked unless you lock the note. How to scan documents on iPhone covers both routes.

Options on iPhone itself:

• Lock a note: Notes can lock a note with a password or Face ID, and a locked note holds PDFs and images.
• Password protect the PDF before you send it: How to password protect a PDF on iPhone.
• Use an encrypted vault app. Lockboxy is an iPhone app that keeps photos, files and notes in an encrypted vault behind a passcode that is separate from your iPhone's. Open Files in the vault, choose Scan a document or Import, and the PDF is saved encrypted on the device. There is no account, and no server of ours in the middle.

The free plan holds up to 30 photos or videos and 10 files, and scans count as files. Premium removes those limits and the ads.

• Delete any original photo in Photos, then open Albums → Recently Deleted and delete it there too. How to permanently delete photos on iPhone has the steps.
• Check Files → Downloads and Mail attachments for copies you saved earlier.
• Check Messages and chat apps: a card photo you sent to someone is still in that conversation.

• Do not rely on a photo for official needs. Keep the original paper, or the digital copy your provider gives you, wherever a rule says you must.
• Do not send medical documents over a chat app unless you have to. If you do, delete them from the chat afterwards.
• Do not store the only copy of anything important in one place. An encrypted vault on the phone is not a backup of your records; ask your provider how to get another copy.