Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

PDF Forge: PDF Scanner & OCR (package com.pdfforge.app) is published by [DEVELOPER_NAME] ("we", "us"). This policy describes how the app handles information when you use it on your Android device. If you have questions, use the contact details at the bottom of this page.

2. Information we collect

2.1 No account, no login

The app does not require an account. We do not collect your name, phone number, email address at sign-up, or any government ID.

2.2 Photos, camera, and files you work with

The app uses android.permission.CAMERA, READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, and READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (on Android 12 and below) to let you scan documents, capture photos, import images from your gallery, and create PDFs from them.

• Photos and documents you capture or import are stored locally on your device (app-private external storage, typically Android/data/com.pdfforge.app/files/). They do not leave your device unless you explicitly use a system share action to send a generated PDF elsewhere.
• OCR (text recognition) — the app uses Google ML Kit's on-device text recognizers that ship inside the app. Extracted text is produced on your device and is not uploaded.
• Document scanning and edge detection — the app uses the Google Play Services Document Scanner. Images are processed on your device.

We do not read, collect, or transmit your photos or PDFs to our own servers. There is no PDF Forge server that stores your documents.

2.3 Advertising and device information (collected by Google)

The app displays ads through Google AdMob. When ads are shown, Google may collect:

• Advertising ID (GAID)
• IP address and approximate location derived from it
• Device information (model, OS version, language, carrier)
• App interaction and ad performance (e.g., views, clicks)

This information is collected and handled by Google under Google's own privacy policy, not by us. We receive aggregate reports for billing and ad performance; we do not link advertising data to the photos or PDFs you process. See Google's Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

2.4 Diagnostics and crash information

If the app crashes, standard Android diagnostic data may be collected by Google Play when you have opted into sharing diagnostics with developers. We do not add separate crash or analytics SDKs (no Firebase Analytics, no Firebase Crashlytics).

2.5 Summary

3. How we use information

• To run the features you request: scanning, capturing, OCR, merging, splitting, rotating, encrypting, watermarking, and sharing PDFs.
• To display ads and keep the app free, via Google AdMob.
• To improve stability, using any crash information Google Play provides to us.

We do not sell your photos, PDFs, or extracted text to anyone. We have no servers that ingest them.

4. Third-party services

The app uses the following Google services, each governed by its own policy:

• Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) — serves ads. Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy and AdMob help: google.com/admob/answer/6128543.
• Google Play Services & ML Kit Document Scanner — provides the on-device document scanning UI; distributed and updated through Google Play Services. Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy.
• Google Play — distribution, updates, and any crash or vital diagnostics you opt into sharing. Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy.

5. Sharing and disclosure

• At your direction — when you tap "Share" on a generated PDF, the file is handed to the Android system share sheet and to whichever app you choose (email, chat, drive, etc.). That destination app's own policy governs what happens next.
• With Google for ads and Play Services — as described above.
• As required by law — if compelled by applicable law or valid legal process.

6. Retention

• Photos, PDFs, and extracted text you create remain on your device until you delete them inside the app or uninstall the app.
• Uninstalling the app removes its app-private files when the OS cleans up.
• Advertising data retention is governed by Google's policies.

7. Security

Photos and PDFs are stored in the app's private external storage and are not world-readable by default. No data is transmitted to our servers, but no method is perfectly secure — protect your device with a screen lock and keep it updated.

8. Your rights and choices

• Permissions — you can grant or deny Camera and media permissions in Android Settings → Apps → PDF Forge: PDF Scanner & OCR → Permissions. Denying them disables the corresponding feature (scanning / importing) but the rest of the app continues to work.
• Personalized ads — on Android, open Settings → Privacy → Ads and choose to delete or reset your advertising ID, or turn off ad personalization. See Google's ad personalization help.
• Delete your data — delete scans, PDFs, and text inside the app, or uninstall the app. Your photos outside the app's folder (e.g., in your main gallery) are unaffected.
• EEA / UK / other rights — where applicable law provides rights to access, correct, delete, object, or restrict processing, contact us at the address below and we will respond to the extent we hold relevant data.

9. Children's privacy

The app is not directed at children and is intended for a general audience aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. International transfers

Advertising data handled by Google may be processed on Google's servers in various countries. For details, see Google's Privacy Policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the app changes. We will update the "Last updated" date at the top, and where appropriate, notify you in the app or in the Play listing. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

12. Contact