Privacy policy

01The short version

PDF Vault has no account and we run no server. Your documents are scanned, recognised, compressed, merged and converted on your own device and are never uploaded. What you lock into the vault is encrypted on the device.

We, the developer, collect no personal data. The free version shows ads from Google AdMob, and Google processes some device and connection information to deliver them, as described below. If you subscribe or buy the lifetime upgrade, the app stops requesting ads altogether.

02What stays on your device

• The files you scan, import, convert or save, the PDFs the tools produce, and their thumbnails.
• The contents of the vault, encrypted, with the keys held in the system’s secure key storage.
• Your saved signature, your settings, the order of your tools, and the list of recent files.
• Your PIN and recovery code, which are checked on the device and never sent anywhere.

Text recognition (OCR) uses the recogniser built into your phone’s system and runs on the device.

03When the app connects to the internet

There are three kinds of outgoing connection, and no others.

• Websites you open in the built-in browser. Your device connects to that site directly, as from any browser. The site sees what browsers send, such as your IP address and any cookies it sets, and its own privacy policy applies. Browsing history, cookies and downloads stay on your device; you can clear them in Settings, or have them cleared each time the vault locks.
• Ads, in the free version only. See the next section.
• Purchases. Handled by the store you bought from (Apple, Google or Microsoft). We do not receive your name, payment details or billing address; the app only keeps whether Pro is unlocked.

Syncing between your own devices happens over your local network and does not go through the internet.

04Ads in the free version

Ads are provided by Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK). It is the only third-party SDK in the app; there is no analytics, crash-reporting or attribution code.

• The app asks for non-personalised ads only. On iPhone it does not ask for tracking permission and does not use the advertising identifier to follow you across apps.
• Even for non-personalised ads, Google processes device and connection information to deliver ads and prevent fraud: IP address (from which a rough location can be derived), device model and system version, an advertising identifier, and ad views and taps. Google does this as an independent controller under its own policies; see policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• Ad requests never include your files, file names, document contents or anything about the vault.
• Ads are never loaded on the unlock screen, inside the vault, in any document viewer, in the browser tab, or during first-time setup.
• Once you subscribe or buy the lifetime upgrade, the ad SDK makes no further requests.

05Permissions the app asks for

• Camera: to scan documents, and to scan the pairing code of another of your devices.
• Photos and media: to import the pictures and files you pick.
• Face ID, fingerprint or device passcode: to unlock the vault. The check is done by the system; the app never receives your biometric data.
• Local network: only to find and sync with your own devices on the same Wi‑Fi.
• Internet: for the three kinds of connection described above.

PDF Vault does not ask for your location, contacts or microphone.

06What we collect

Nothing. We have no server to collect it on. We do not receive your files or their contents, file names, PIN, recovery code, browsing history, location, contacts or e-mail address, and the app sends us no crash reports.

We do not build profiles, track you across apps, or sell or share data for advertising.

07Keeping and deleting your data

Everything is on your device. Deleting the app deletes what is inside it: the vault, browsing data and settings. Files you exported to the system’s Files app or to a backup folder are yours to remove.

If you forget your PIN and have no recovery code, we cannot open the vault for you. We hold no copy of your keys.

Because we hold no data about you, a request to access or delete it has nothing to act on at our end: deleting the app removes it. For data Google or a store processes, their own tools and policies apply.

08When you contact us

If you e-mail us or send feedback through this website, we receive what you choose to send: your message, and your e-mail address if you give one. We use it to answer you and to improve the product, and we do not share it. Ask us at devgame11@gmail.com and we will delete it.

Please never send us your PIN, your recovery code, or private files.

09Children

PDF Vault is not directed at children under 13. It includes a web browser that can open any website, and its ads are not directed at children.

10This website

This website sets no cookies, uses no analytics and loads nothing from third parties. It is hosted on GitHub Pages; like any web host, GitHub may log technical data such as IP addresses, under its own privacy statement.

11Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with a new date.

Questions: devgame11@gmail.com