Privacy Policy | PDForge

 TL;DR: Your files never leave your browser. We don't upload, store, or process your documents on any server. PDForge runs entirely client-side.

1. Information we collect

PDForge is designed with a privacy-first architecture. We collect the absolute minimum data necessary to operate and improve the service.

a. File data

PDForge does not collect, store, or access your file contents. When you use any PDF tool on this site, your files are processed entirely within your web browser using the HTML5 File API. The file data is read into your device's memory, processed by JavaScript or WebAssembly libraries, and then discarded when you close or refresh the page. No file bytes are transmitted to our servers at any point.

b. Anonymous analytics

We collect limited, anonymous usage data through Vercel Analytics (our hosting platform's built-in analytics), which includes:

Page views and navigation paths
General geographic region (country level only, no GPS or precise location)
Browser type, version, and device type
Core Web Vitals performance metrics (loading speed, interactivity, layout shift)

This data is aggregated and never tied to an individual identity or IP address. Vercel Analytics operates without cookies and does not track users across different sites.

c. Server logs

Our hosting provider (Vercel) may automatically collect standard server access logs including IP addresses, request timestamps, and requested URLs. These logs are retained for a limited period for security and operational purposes and are not correlated with individual user profiles. We do not access or use these logs for any form of user tracking.

2. File processing

All file operations (merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, rotate, watermark, annotate, sign, redact, crop, etc.) happen exclusively in your browser using JavaScript and WebAssembly-based libraries. Your files are never uploaded to any server.

Here's exactly what happens when you use a tool:

You select or drag a file onto the tool. The file is read into your browser's memory using the File API.
Processing libraries (pdf-lib, PDF.js, Tesseract.js, JSZip, etc.) manipulate the file data entirely client-side.
The processed result is made available as a downloadable blob URL within your browser.
When you navigate away or close the page, all in-memory data is garbage-collected and cleared. No traces remain.

We have no access to the contents of your documents, nor do we have any mechanism to retrieve them. The processing is entirely local to your machine.

3. Contact form

If you submit our contact form, your name, email address, and message are transmitted to Formspree (our form processing service) and forwarded to us by email. This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry and is not sold or shared with third parties. Please refer to Formspree's Privacy Policy for details on how they handle submissions.

4. Cookies

PDForge uses cookies and local browser storage for the following purposes:

Cookie consent preference — we store your cookie consent choice in localStorage so you are not asked repeatedly.
Google AdSense — we use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ad Settings.

Vercel Analytics operates without cookies. No other tracking cookies are set by PDForge directly.

5. Advertising

PDForge uses Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and/or other sites on the internet.

Users may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings. Alternatively, users can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.

For more information on how Google uses data when you use our site, see How Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps.

6. Third-party services

Google AdSense — advertising. See Google's Privacy Policy.
Vercel — hosting platform. May log IP addresses as part of standard server access logs. See Vercel's Privacy Policy.
Formspree — contact form processing. See Formspree's Privacy Policy.
Google Fonts — font delivery. May log IP addresses. See Google's Privacy Policy.

7. Children's privacy

PDForge is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of PDForge after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact us.