What to do if you find someone's documents

If you've found someone's document (passport, driver's license, student ID, bank card) and are looking for the owner of this document, first of all, remember about not disclosing personal data.

There is no exhaustive list of what constitutes personal data and what does not. It's best to follow a simple rule: if certain information can clearly identify a person, then that information is considered personal.

Thus, your passport, driver's license, student ID, or bank card are sources of personal data protected by law.

The law imposes on everyone, even third parties, the obligation to ensure the protection of personal data from unlawful processing and unauthorized access to them. Therefore, in the event of finding documents or cards, the main principle is not to harm their owner.

In the case of finding documents:

Social networks.

If you still want to find the owner of lost documents through social networks, pay attention to the following advice:

• Avoid posting original photos of documents. This attracts scammers' attention and can lead to uncontrolled dissemination of a person's personal data.
• Refrain from disclosing document details (for example, do not indicate passport series and number, date of birth, registered address, etc.).
• In the announcement about the find, limit yourself to mentioning the place of finding, the type of document, and the last name, initials of the owner.
• Consider the chances of your post reaching the document owner. It's doubtful that among 100 people in a community or chat, there is the owner of documents found at a railway station. It's different for a closed group or community of a residential complex where the documents were found, and the owner might actually reside there.

In such a case, it's better to publish an announcement on Lafmap www.lafmap.com. This way, you'll show the approximate location where you found this document. The owner will be able to check the places where they were when they lost their documents on the map and it will be easier, compared to social networks, to find your announcement and contact you.

Police.

Most of the time, we're not familiar with the owner of lost documents, so we cannot "immediately inform the person who lost the documents and return them." A wise decision is to hand over the find to the police – report it on the hotline 102 or contact the nearest police patrol.

Lost and found office.

Somewhat archaic method, many are not even aware of its existence. Despite this, such offices exist in the Kyiv metro, units of the patrol police, and at centers for administrative services provision. Unfortunately, there is no exhaustive list of lost and found offices, so you need to look for them separately in each locality. In Lviv, for example, the lost and found office operates as a full-fledged communal enterprise "Agency of Resources of the Lviv City Council" and provides its services for a fee, the amount of which is determined by the city council.

Lost and found offices, with rare exceptions, are not particularly popular, however, they are an auxiliary way to return lost documents, especially when it comes to loss in public transport or administrative buildings.

In the case of finding a bank card:

• Call the bank's hotline listed on the back of the card and report the find. The bank can contact the immediate owner and inform them about the loss, blockage, and subsequent reissuance of the card, while advising you to destroy the card.
• Hand over the found card to the nearest branch of the respective bank as soon as possible.

Under no circumstances should you keep the card for yourself or try to use it – such actions may be considered fraud or misappropriation of someone else's property!