Security

1. Where each thing is processed

Not every tool works the same way, and that is the first piece of security information you need.

PDF ARENA and many of the one-step tools work entirely in your browser: the document never leaves your device. The ones that need text recognition, compression, conversion to office formats, protection, unprotection or repair run on our server, and the file is uploaded. The interface says so before you start.

Chat PDF sends the text of the document to an outside artificial intelligence provider so that it can answer you. The privacy policy explains it in detail.

2. What protects your connection

All traffic travels encrypted with TLS. The site forces HTTPS and declares HSTS, so the browser refuses to connect unencrypted even if it is asked to.

In front of the server sits a delivery network that filters denial-of-service attacks and automated traffic.

The security headers of the site restrict which origins code can be loaded from, which limits the damage an injection attempt can do.

3. What happens to the files that do get uploaded

They are stored in a working directory with a random name, processed, and deleted automatically after one hour. The deletion is run by a job that checks every fifteen minutes; it does not depend on anyone remembering.

We do not index them, we do not review them by hand, and we do not use them to train models of our own.

If you would rather not wait out that hour, use the tools that process in the browser: with those there is nothing to delete, because nothing has left your device.

4. What we do not do

It is worth being explicit about what is not there either.

• We do not encrypt files at rest during the hour they stay on the server. They sit in a directory with restricted access, but they are not encrypted one by one.
• We are not a storage service: there is no backup of your documents, and once deleted they cannot be recovered.
• We do not guarantee that a processed document is identical to the original in every respect. Always check before using it for anything important.

5. What you can do

• For documents holding sensitive data, choose a tool that processes in the browser.
• Do not use Chat PDF with confidential documents: what they contain is sent to an outside provider.
• Download the result and check it is correct before closing the tab.
• If you create an account, use a unique password and turn on two-step verification.

6. Reporting a security problem

If you find a vulnerability, write to us through the contact form choosing the “Bug” category and describe it in as much detail as you can. We are grateful for the warning and we take no action against anyone who reports in good faith and neither accesses other people's data nor degrades the service.