Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy describes how PDF Viewer ("the app", "we", "our", or "us") handles your information when you use our Android application. Optional access is controlled through the app and Android permission or file-selection screens; this policy explains that access and does not replace those choices.

PDF Viewer is a document reader and PDF annotation tool. It has no user account, no sign-in, and no server of ours that stores your documents. Your files are opened, rendered and edited on your device.

The app is supported by advertising. It also uses a small number of third-party SDKs for advertising, ad attribution and crash/notification services, which are described in detail in Section 5.

2. Information You Provide

No account or sign-in is required, and the app does not ask for account or payment information to use its document tools. If you contact us by email, we receive your email address, message and any attachments you choose to send, and use them to respond to your request.

• You choose which files to open. Documents can be picked through the Android system file picker, shared to the app from another app, or opened from a PDF/Office attachment or link.
• Annotations, handwritten notes, inserted text and signatures you create are stored locally. Saving creates or updates a PDF on your device; imported documents and generated PDFs may be kept as app-private copies. Sharing or exporting a file is a separate action you choose.
• Signatures you draw and choose to keep are stored inside the app's private storage on your device so you can reuse them.
• Images you select for the Image to PDF and ID Card tools, and photos you take with the Scan to PDF tool, are processed locally on your device to build a PDF.

The document tools do not upload these files, annotations or images to a server of ours. If you deliberately share a file with another app, a cloud provider or our support email, that recipient receives the content you choose to send.

3. On-Device Processing

All document handling happens on your device:

• PDF rendering, search, annotation, text insertion, signatures, printing and annotation saving are performed locally by the app.
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint and CSV files are preview-only and are rendered inside an embedded page renderer that loads its templates from the app's own bundled assets. These documents are not uploaded to any word-processing or conversion service.
• Document scanning (Scan to PDF, ID Card) is provided by the ML Kit Document Scanner, a Google Play services component described in Section 5. The scanning screen is supplied by that component, the captured page images are processed on your device, and only the resulting image files are returned to the app to build your PDF. The app does not hold camera permission itself.
• Imported documents are stored as private copies in the app's sandbox so that access does not break when the picker closes.

Office previews load their renderer from bundled app assets and read local document copies. The preview pipeline does not use an online conversion service. Documents may contain external links or resources; opening or loading external content can contact the relevant website or provider, whose data practices apply.

Optional background screenshot reminders

To enable screenshot reminders, you select your phone's actual screenshot folder using Android's system folder picker and grant read access. Common locations include DCIM/Screenshots and Pictures/Screenshots; the correct location depends on your phone. Android grants access to that directory and its contents, including future files, rather than to your entire photo library.

When the feature is enabled and notifications are allowed, the app runs a foreground service with an ongoing notification. It observes changes and periodically checks the selected directory for newly saved screenshot images, including while PDF Viewer is in the background. It reads image content to show a local preview and records the image name, content URI and capture or file timestamp in a local database. The app does not record your screen, take screenshots for you, or upload screenshot images or this index as part of monitoring.

Only the selected directory is monitored. Existing images are used as a starting baseline rather than generating new alerts, and screenshots identified as taken while PDF Viewer is visible are excluded. Detection can take several seconds and can be interrupted by Android or manufacturer battery restrictions. Opening a screenshot notification lets you view that image and choose to convert it to PDF.

Screenshot notifications may display a file name or image preview on the notification shade or lock screen, depending on your device settings. You can disable Screenshot reminders in the app's Settings, choose a different Screenshot folder, or change notification visibility in Android settings. Disabling monitoring stops the service; it does not delete screenshots, existing index entries or previously granted directory access.

4. Collection and Sharing

Document reading, editing, conversion and screenshot monitoring process your files locally. These features do not upload document contents, signatures or screenshot images to an app-operated backend, and we do not sell or rent those contents. Local processing still involves accessing and storing the information needed for the features, as described in Sections 3 and 8. Support emails and files you intentionally share are separate from these local operations.

However, the app does include third-party SDKs for advertising, ad attribution and app stability. These SDKs operate independently of your documents and may collect limited device and usage data over the internet, such as:

• A device advertising identifier (Google Advertising ID) and app set identifier, plus an app-instance identifier generated by the SDK.
• Device and technical data: device model and manufacturer, operating system version, language and country/region, screen characteristics, network type and mobile operator.
• IP address (which also implies approximate, city-level location).
• App data: app version and package name, installation and first-launch events, session start/end, ad impressions, clicks and views.
• Diagnostic data: crash stack traces and app state at the time of a crash, and performance/ANR information.

The app does not intentionally pass document contents, signatures or screenshot images to advertising or attribution SDKs. Diagnostic reports can contain exception messages and technical context, which may include a file name or path if it appears in an error. We do not claim that third-party SDKs are isolated from the app by separate Android file permissions.

We use provider dashboards to review advertising and attribution reports and diagnose problems. These can include aggregate statistics as well as individual crash details and installation or session identifiers; they are not necessarily anonymous. We use this information to operate the app, measure advertising and fix defects.

5. Third-Party Services

The app integrates the following third-party services. Their privacy policies and applicable service terms explain their data practices and their roles in processing data. We remain responsible for our use and configuration of these services.

Advertising

• Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK) — serves the app's banner, interstitial, app-open, native and rewarded ads.
  policies.google.com/privacy · How Google uses information for ads
• AdMob mediation partners. The app bundles mediator adapters so that ads can also be filled by the following ad networks. Partner SDKs may initialize or communicate when advertising is initialized, requests are made or ads are shown, depending on SDK behavior and the mediation configuration:
  • AppLovin — applovin.com/privacy
  • Meta Audience Network (Meta Platforms, Inc.) — facebook.com/privacy/policy
  • Mintegral (Mobvista) — mintegral.com/en/privacy
  • Pangle (ByteDance) — pangle.io/privacy-policy

Ad attribution and measurement

• Adjust — measures which campaign or store source an installation came from and records app session activity, so that advertising spend can be attributed. The app uses the Adjust SDK's standard install, session and attribution features and sends no custom user events.
  adjust.com/legal/privacy-policy
• Google Play Install Referrer — provides the referrer information of your Google Play installation to the app and the attribution SDK.
• Google Play services advertising identifier — provides the resettable advertising ID used by the above.

Stability and messaging (Google Firebase)

• Firebase Crashlytics — collects crash reports, stack traces, app state at crash time, and technical device/app identifiers so we can find and fix defects.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging — generates and maintains a device registration token so the app can receive service notifications and announcements. Google processes registration and installation identifiers to deliver messages. The app has no custom token-upload endpoint; this does not mean that the messaging token remains only on your device. Denying notification permission prevents notifications from being displayed but does not itself disable Firebase initialization.
• Firebase privacy information: firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Document scanning

• ML Kit Document Scanner (Google Play services) — supplies the camera scanning interface used by the Scan to PDF and ID Card tools. The interface runs inside Google Play services, which is why the app itself does not request camera permission. Captured page images are processed on the device and returned to the app; ML Kit may download components or updates and sends performance and usage metrics to Google to operate, maintain and improve its APIs. ML Kit processes the input images on-device and does not send the scanned input images or results to Google servers through these scanning APIs.
  policies.google.com/privacy · ML Kit terms

Document rendering library

• PdfBox-Android — an open-source, offline library used to read and write PDF files on your device. It performs no network communication.

6. Permissions

PDF Viewer uses the permissions and user-granted access below. Some Android permissions are granted automatically; runtime permissions and special access are controlled separately by Android.

Permissions added automatically by the included SDKs

The advertising, attribution and messaging libraries listed in Section 5 declare a number of further permissions in the app's manifest. These support SDK and notification functions; they do not replace the document or directory access described above:

The app does not request access to your location, the camera, microphone, contacts, calendar, SMS, call logs, health data or biometric data. Scanning is handled by the Google Play services scanner component described in Section 5, and image import uses system pickers. Separately, enabling screenshot monitoring grants ongoing access to the chosen directory, including new images saved there; all-files access, if enabled for document management, is broader still.

Manage runtime permissions and notifications in Android Settings → Apps → PDF Viewer. Manage all-files access under Android’s Special app access settings. Directory grants are separate from photo permissions. You can stop monitoring or change its selected directory in the app; these actions do not revoke earlier directory grants. Clearing app storage or uninstalling removes the app’s saved directory grants. Turning off screenshot monitoring leaves the document tools available.

7. Advertising, Analytics and Your Choices

The app is free and displays advertising. Ads are served by Google AdMob and, through mediation, by the partner networks listed in Section 5. To serve and measure ads, these partners may collect the advertising identifier, IP address, device and app data, and ad interaction data described in Section 4, and may use cookies or similar technologies.

Partner policies explain how they process advertising data. You can manage advertising identifiers and supported personalization controls on your device:

• Android Settings → Privacy → Ads (naming varies by device): delete or reset your advertising ID, and opt out of ad personalization. On Android 12 and newer, deleting the advertising ID means apps receive a string of zeros instead of your identifier.
• Limit ad tracking or reset identifiers inside the settings of individual ad-supported apps and in your Google account's ad settings at myadcenter.google.com.
• Uninstall the app to stop future activity by its installed code. This does not delete reports or other data already held by service providers.

Advertising-ID and personalization controls do not necessarily stop ads, contextual advertising, diagnostics or fraud-prevention processing. Some tool flows use rewarded ads. Choosing not to use a tool does not by itself disable the app’s other SDKs.

The app does not integrate the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK as a separate analytics product. Advertising and attribution SDKs still perform their own measurement, and Firebase Crashlytics and ML Kit process the diagnostic or usage data described above. Disabling screenshot monitoring or denying notifications does not disable advertising, attribution or crash reporting.

8. Data Stored on Your Device

The app keeps the following information locally, primarily in its Android app-specific storage:

• Saved signatures (as local drawing data).
• Bookmarks.
• Private copies of documents you import, and PDFs created by the Image to PDF, ID Card and Scan to PDF tools.
• Bundled sample documents and local cached copies used to open them.
• Screenshot index entries containing a content URI, file name and capture or file timestamp. The index is not a second copy of each screenshot; previews read the original image, and conversion may create a temporary local image copy and a PDF.
• The selected screenshot-directory URI and persistent read access. When you choose another folder, earlier grants may be kept so previously indexed screenshots can still be opened; monitoring switches to the newly selected folder.
• Ordinary app settings and preferences: language, sort order, view mode, tutorial-seen flag, reminder and feature toggles, and which tool you last used.
• Cached copies of files created while rendering an Office document.

The app sets allowBackup="false" to disable Android cloud backup. On some devices, this does not prevent manufacturer-managed device-to-device transfer; the app’s current transfer rules do not exclude all private files. Review your device’s backup and migration settings. Files you save in shared storage or deliberately export may also be included in backups operated by other apps or providers.

9. Retention and Deletion

Local documents, settings and screenshot records remain until you delete them, clear app storage or uninstall, subject to cache cleanup by the app or Android:

• Deleting a document removes the selected file where the app has deletion access; other copies or exported versions are separate. Deleting an entry from Captured screenshots removes its local index entry and notification, not the original image in your gallery.
• Clear the app's storage in Android Settings → Apps → PDF Viewer → Storage → Clear storage to remove saved signatures, bookmarks, created PDFs, private imported copies and all preferences at once.
• Uninstalling removes the app’s private data and saved access grants. Original screenshots, documents in shared storage, files exported to other apps, and copies you backed up elsewhere are not necessarily deleted. Use your gallery, file manager or receiving service to remove those copies.

SDK data has retention periods separate from your local files. Google describes a 90-day retention period for Crashlytics crash traces and associated identifiers before beginning removal; other services follow their published policies and applicable configurations. Deleting local app data does not automatically erase provider-held records. Contact us for requests relating to data processed on our behalf; we will use available provider controls or explain any identification limits and direct you to the appropriate provider. Support correspondence is kept for handling the request, related follow-up and any applicable legal obligations, and can be included in a deletion request.

10. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent (for example under the GDPR, the UK GDPR, the CCPA/CPRA, or similar laws).

No app account is required, but support correspondence and SDK reports can still contain personal data. Available controls depend on the type of information and the relevant service:

• Document and app data: use the local deletion and permission controls in Section 9, and separately manage any exported or backed-up copies.
• Advertising data: reset or delete your advertising ID and manage personalization in your device ad settings, or use the opt-out links in Section 7.
• Requests to us: write to the address in Section 14. We will respond within the period required by applicable law. We may need limited information to identify the relevant correspondence or service record. If we cannot match a request to a record, we will explain that limitation and any provider-specific route available to you. Do not send document contents or identity documents unless necessary for your request.

We do not sell your personal information for money. Sharing device identifiers with advertising partners for interest-based advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" under some laws; you can opt out as described above.

11. Security

App-private copies use Android’s application storage protections. Original files in shared storage and deliberately shared or exported files have the access controls of their storage location or recipient. Google Mobile Ads and Firebase document encryption in transit; other providers describe their safeguards in the linked policies.

No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, and no app can guarantee absolute security. You should keep your device protected with a screen lock, and be aware that files you explicitly share or export leave the app's private storage and are then governed by wherever you send them.

12. Children's Privacy

The app is a general-audience productivity tool. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The app does not ask for a name, email or any account and does not provide public profiles or a social feed. Files can still be shared with another app when you choose to do so.

Because the app is supported by advertising, it is not intended for children under the age of digital consent in your country. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has used the app and provided information to a third-party SDK, please contact us at the address in Section 14 and we will help you exercise the available controls, including device-level ad personalization opt-outs.

13. International Transfers and Changes to This Policy

The third-party providers listed in Section 5 are international companies and may process the technical data described above on servers outside your country, including in the United States, under the safeguards described in their own privacy policies.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when features or SDKs change. The revised version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes will also be noted in the app's store listing or in the app itself.