Privacy policy

Your files

The tools (sign, fill, merge, organize and images to PDF) run inside your browser. Files you open are processed on your device and are not uploaded to us or anyone else.

There are two exceptions, both your choice. If you save a document to your account, it is encrypted on your device before it is sent, and stored encrypted. Word to PDF (coming soon) has to send the file to our server to convert it; the file is kept in memory only and deleted as soon as the PDF is returned.

If you create an account

Accounts are optional. If you create one we store your email address, and your name and Google account identifier if you sign in with Google. We also store what you choose to save: your signatures and initials, details such as your name, phone number or address, and documents.

We use this only to provide the service: to sign you in and to show your saved items on your devices. We never sell it, never use it for advertising profiles and never read your documents.

Saved signatures and details are encrypted at rest. Documents are encrypted on your device before upload.

Without an account

Signatures and details you save without an account stay in your browser storage on that device. Clearing your browser data removes them.

Visit statistics

We count visits and tool use with Umami, which we host ourselves. It sets no cookies, does not store IP addresses and gives us only totals, such as how many documents were merged today. It never sees file names or contents.

Our web server does not keep logs of visits. Our API keeps short error logs without file contents, to fix problems.

Cookies and storage

When you are signed in we use one cookie that keeps you signed in. It is strictly necessary, so no consent banner is needed. We also use your browser storage to remember your language and, if you install the app, to make it work offline.

If we add advertising in the future, we will update this policy and ask for your consent where the law requires it before any advertising cookies are used.

Where data is stored

Account data is stored on servers we rent from hosting providers, and saved documents with Cloudflare R2. These may be outside your country, including outside Rwanda and the European Union. We protect data in transit with HTTPS and at rest with encryption.

How long we keep it

Until you delete it. You can delete a document, a saved signature, a detail or your whole account at any time. Deleted data is removed straight away and disappears from our backups within 30 days.

Your rights

You can see, export, correct and delete your data from your account page. Depending on where you live, laws such as Rwanda’s Law No 058/2021 on the protection of personal data and the EU General Data Protection Regulation give you these rights and others, including the right to complain to a data protection authority (in Rwanda, the National Cyber Security Authority).

Children

PDF Tools is not meant for children under 16, and we do not knowingly create accounts for them.

Changes

If this policy changes, we update the date at the top. Important changes are announced in the app.