Protecting your identity

Why we protect your identity

Licence cards and NSW Photo Cards are used as a reliable form of identification. We need to ensure the integrity of these cards is protected.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes and costs Australians billions of dollars every year. Someone could steal your identity and use it for fraudulent purposes. Examples include:

• financial fraud, taking out loans with a false identity
• immigration fraud, including people smuggling and undetected movement of criminals between countries
• unlawful use of licences, leading to traffic offences and demerit points being incorrectly assigned to you.

We've worked closely with the NSW Police and other agencies on our proof of identity arrangements. These arrangements are necessary to protect your identity and the driver licensing system.

More information about identity theft

• The Australian Government: Identity security. This information is also available in a number of community languages.
• NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages: Safeguard Your Identity.
• NSW Police: Fraud prevention.

How we protect your identity

Transport for NSW protects your identity in a number of ways:

• using facial recognition technology to compare photo images
• security features on licences and other photo cards
• recording licences and other cards that are reported as lost, stolen or destroyed
• referring suspicious customer identification cases to a specialist unit
• validating key proof of identity documents with the issuing authorities, where appropriate.

In a small number of cases, the checks we make on your documents may take a number of days. If this applies to you, you’ll be advised as soon as enquiries are completed.

Concerned you're a victim of identity theft?

If you believe someone has stolen your identity, we can place a restriction on your Transport for NSW records. Anyone attempting to do business with us in your name will need to provide full proof of identity.

If you can show that someone has tried to use your licence or customer number fraudulently, we have a simplified process to replace them.

See Changing your licence number or customer number for more information.

The NSW Government website also has more information on:

• how your identity can be stolen
• how you can protect yourself against identity theft
• how to recover your identity.

Preventing data breaches

There has been a rise in identity theft and unlawful access of private information in Australia in recent times, with at least one incident involving NSW driver licences.

It is important that NSW businesses understand the risks of storing the personal information of their customers or staff, particularly when using digital storage.

Cloud storage services are great for accessing information any time on any device, but they’re not always set up securely. It is your responsibility to make sure any data you store is protected.

Visit the Office of Australian Information Commissioner or the Australian Cyber Security Centre for more information.