How we handle your files

Why this page exists

“Your files are secure” appears on the homepage of every online PDF tool, including ones that upload your document to a server you know nothing about. The phrase has been used so indiscriminately that it now carries no information.

So instead of a promise, this page gives you a list. Every tool on PDF Spree falls into one of four categories, the category is stated on the tool’s own page before you choose a file, and the lists below are generated from the same source of truth the tools themselves are built from.

The four categories

How to verify the browser-only claim

You do not need to trust this page. A browser-based tool making no network request is something you can observe directly, in about thirty seconds:

1. Open a browser-based tool — merging is the easy one.
2. Open developer tools (F12, or ⌥⌘I on a Mac) and switch to the Network tab.
3. Clear the log, then add your files and run the tool.
4. Watch what appears. You will see the page’s own scripts and ad requests. You will not see your document being uploaded, because it never is.

You can go further: disconnect from the internet entirely after the page has loaded, then run the tool. A browser-based tool still works offline. That is not something a server-backed tool can fake.

When a file is uploaded

Some operations genuinely cannot happen in a browser — rendering an Office document with correct fonts, running optical character recognition over a scan, or re-encoding embedded images for real compression. For these, the file goes to our processing server.

• In transit — encrypted with TLS, browser to server, always.
• At rest, without an account — held only while the job runs plus a short download window.
• Deletion, without an account — automatic, within a day, on a schedule rather than by hand.
• With an account — the file is kept in your storage until you delete it, because that storage is what your plan provides. Deleted files sit in a trash you can restore from for seven days, then go for good.
• Access — nobody reads your document. It is not indexed, mined, or used to train anything.
• Retention of results — the output is deleted on the same schedule as the input. Download it before you close the tab.

When an AI model is involved

The data-extraction tools work by sending document contents to a third-party AI provider that interprets them. This is a real disclosure, not a formality: the contents leave our infrastructure.

Our providers are contractually barred from training models on data submitted through their API, and we send only what the operation needs. Even so, if a document is confidential enough that a third-party processor is unacceptable, use a browser-based tool instead — the list above tells you which those are.

What advertising can and cannot see

PDF Spree is funded by ads. Ad code runs in the page alongside the tool, but it has no access to the document you are working on — the file is held in the tool’s own memory, not in anything a third-party script can read. Ad providers see the page you are on, not the file you brought to it.

What we do not claim

Being straight about the boundaries is part of the point:

• Browser-based processing protects your file from us and from the network. It does not protect it from malware already on your device.
• Removing a password from a PDF you are entitled to open is a supported use. Doing it to someone else’s document is your problem — see the terms.
• Our signing tool places a visual signature. It is not a cryptographic PAdES signature and will not satisfy a regulator that requires one.
• Conversion is lossy. Keep your originals and check every output before relying on it.

Reporting a security problem

If you find a vulnerability, email security@pdfspree.com with enough detail to reproduce it. We will not pursue anyone who reports a genuine issue in good faith and gives us a reasonable chance to fix it before disclosing.

For data-protection questions, see the privacy policy.