> They have to verify your identity somehow, or anyone could get at the data.
Yes, but the mere fact that I possess a photocopy of my drivers license does not prove that I'm me. That is manifestly true because they now possess a photocopy of my drivers license and they are not me.
Well, you don't have to give them a perfect copy of your DL. They now posses a heavily redacted and aggressively watermarked image of my driver's license that is unlikely to be of any use outside of this specific request.
[UPDATE] If the heavily redacted version was good enough to convince them that you are you, then it will almost certainly be enough for them to convince someone else that they are you should they choose to do.
Right. The redaction is to avoid giving them any information (no matter how seemingly useless) that I don't want to give them if they don't already have it (e.g. eye color, weight, etc).
The watermark is what (hopefully) limits the usefulness of the image, by stating when, who and why the image was furnished in a way that is relatively difficult to manipulate.
Yes, but the mere fact that I possess a photocopy of my drivers license does not prove that I'm me. That is manifestly true because they now possess a photocopy of my drivers license and they are not me.