Emirates Id

Detects Emirates Id patterns. This pattern is based on a Microsoft Purview built-in sensitive information type. Users already running Purview may prefer to enable the built-in SIT directly, or use this version as a starting point for customisation.

Type: regex
Engine: universal
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: Medium confidence: pattern has structural constraints but corroborative keywords are recommended to reduce false positive rates. Added context gating and exclusion rules improve precision and reduce incidental matches.
Detection quality: Verified
Jurisdictions: ae
Regulations: UAE PDPL
Frameworks: ISO 27001, ISO 27701
Data categories: pii, government-id
Scope: narrow
Risk rating: 9
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Compatible, Netskope: Compatible

Pattern

\b784[-]?\d{4}[-]?\d{7}[-]?\d{1}\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

identifier, number, ID, ID number, identification, ID card, license, permit, registration, certificate, data record, database record, record set, data extract, data export, database table, spreadsheet, data registry, registry entry, master data (+13 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

784-1234-1234567-1 — Emirates ID with hyphens
784123412345671 — Emirates ID without separators
784-9876-9876543-2 — Alternate Emirates ID

Should not match

785-1234-1234567-1 — Wrong country prefix (785 instead of 784)
784-1234-123456-1 — Too few digits in middle group (6 instead of 7)
784-1234-1234567 — Missing check digit at end
template example placeholder record identifier — Template/sample context should be excluded even when anchor words are present

Known false positives

Common words and phrases related to emirates id appearing in policy documents, training materials, HR templates, or compliance guidelines without actual personal data. Mitigation: Require corroborative evidence keywords within the proximity window to confirm sensitive data context rather than general discussion.
In Arabic (UAE), similar terminology used in formal or administrative contexts (education, professional documentation) that does not constitute sensitive data collection. Mitigation: Layer with additional contextual signals such as structured identifiers, form fields, or database column headers to distinguish sensitive records from general references.

References

U.A.E. identity card number entity definition - Microsoft Learn