Privacy policy

Last updated

PDF Case collects no data. Your files stay on your device, in the iOS app and in the web app alike. There is no account, no tracking and no advertising, and we never see your documents.

Who we are

PDF Case is made by Dawid Płatek, who is responsible for your data under this policy. For any question about this policy or your data, write to dawidplatek@me.com.

The iOS app

What it keeps, and where

PDF Case keeps the PDFs you make, scan or bring into it, and the signatures you choose to save. All of it is stored on your device, in PDF Case’s protected storage, encrypted by your device. No server of ours receives files, and nothing is sent to us.

How your files are processed

Every tool runs on your iPhone or iPad: merging, compressing, signing, redacting and the rest. Text recognition (Make searchable) uses Apple’s recognition on your device. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are converted on your device too, and while a file is converted PDF Case blocks any attempt by it to load content from the internet. The app has no network features at all.

Permissions

PDF Case asks for a permission only when you use the feature that needs it:

  • Camera, to scan documents.
  • Photos and Files: PDF Case sees only the items you pick.

When you share files to PDF Case from another app, or use PDF Case in Shortcuts, iOS passes the files between apps on your device. Nothing leaves it.

The web app

The web app is the same kind of toolkit in a browser: the pages of this site. There is no account, and no server that takes your files.

How your files are processed

When you choose or drop a file, the page reads it into the memory of the browser tab, and the tools work on it there, in code that runs on your device. The result is handed to you as a download made by the tab itself. Your files, their names and what is in them are never sent to us or to anyone else.

The browser holds the page to this: every page carries a content security policy that lets it connect to this site only and forbids it to submit a form anywhere. The only things a page asks the network for are the app’s own files. Once a page has loaded, the tools keep working with the network off.

What is stored in your browser

Three things, all of them in this browser on this device, and none of them with us:

  • Your files. A PDF that a tool makes is kept in Your files, so you can use it again, unless you switch off “Keep results in Your files” in Settings. A PDF you add to Your files yourself is kept too. They are held in the browser’s database for this site (IndexedDB), each with its name, page count, size, the time it was added, the tool that made it, and whether it needs a password. Results that are text or images are never kept, only downloaded.
  • Your settings. The theme, the light or dark appearance and the “Keep results” choice are saved in the browser’s local storage for this site, from the moment you change them. The language is part of the address and is not stored.
  • The app itself. A service worker keeps a copy of the app’s own files (pages, code and fonts) in the browser’s cache, so the app opens and works offline. That copy holds none of your files.

What is not stored

  • The file you start from. A file you choose for a tool is read into memory for that visit. Only the result is kept, as described above.
  • Passwords. A password you type to open, lock or unlock a PDF is held in the tab’s memory only and is never written to storage. A locked PDF in Your files is kept with a mark that it is locked, never with its password.
  • Signatures. A signature you draw, type or photograph in the web app lasts for that visit. It is not saved between visits.
  • Cookies. The web app sets none.

How to delete it

Open Your files and use Delete on a file to remove it from this device. Clearing this site’s data in your browser’s settings removes everything at once: the kept files, your settings and the offline copy of the app. The browser may also clear this data on its own if you don’t visit for a while.

What the pages load and ask for

No analytics, no advertising, and no scripts, fonts or pictures from other sites: everything a page loads comes from this site. Links to the App Store, and to the sources named in some guides, are ordinary links you may follow. The page fetches nothing from them, and the browser is told not to say which page you came from.

The web app asks for no browser permissions: no camera, microphone, location or notifications. It sees only the files you choose or drop.

What PDF Case doesn’t do

  • No account or sign-in, in either app.
  • No tracking, advertising or analytics, and no third-party code that does any of these.
  • No selling or sharing of data. There is none to sell.
  • No purchases: the iOS app is free, the web app asks for no payment, and neither handles payment details.

The iOS app’s privacy label on the App Store is “Data Not Collected”.

If you choose to share analytics with app developers in your device’s settings, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports for the iOS app. Apple’s privacy policy covers these.

How long your data is kept

In the iOS app: until you delete a file, use Settings › Delete all files, or delete the app, which removes everything PDF Case stored. Device backups you make, to iCloud or a computer, include PDF Case’s data, as for any app.

In the web app: until you delete a file in Your files or clear this site’s data in your browser, which also removes your settings and the offline copy of the app. The browser may clear them itself if you don’t visit for a while. They are kept nowhere else.

Your rights

Under the GDPR and similar laws you can ask to see, correct or delete your personal data. PDF Case keeps your data only on your device, so you can do all of this yourself, in the app or in your browser. If you write to us, we use your message and email address only to reply, and delete them once the matter is closed. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in answering you (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)), and you can object to this use at any time. Our email is carried by Apple (iCloud Mail). You can also complain to your data protection authority.

Redaction and originals

Redaction removes what you mark from the copy it saves; the file you started from stays as it was until you delete it. PDF Case is not a certified archive: rules where you live may require you to keep paper originals or certified copies.

This website and its host

This site, which is the web app, sets no cookies, uses no analytics and loads nothing from other sites.

It is served from Frankfurt, Germany, by our host, Fly.io, which may keep standard server logs, such as IP addresses, to keep the site secure and running. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in that (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). We keep no copy of these logs, and Fly.io deletes them after a limited time under its own retention rules.

Such a log can show that a page of the app was asked for. It cannot show a file you worked on or its name, because files are never sent to the host.

Outside the European Union

Fly.io is a company based in the United States, so the server logs may be processed there.

Apple, which carries our email, is also a company based in the United States, so any email you send us may be processed there. In both cases this happens under the safeguards the GDPR requires: standard contractual clauses or the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date. If a change affects what happens to your files, the iOS app’s update notes will say so.