Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 8, 2026 · Last updated: October 8, 2026
Your documents never leave your device. 42 PDF Editor has no accounts, no servers and no analytics. Scanning, text recognition, signing and Word conversion all run on your iPhone or iPad. We collect nothing, so there is nothing to sell, share or delete.
CS42.org ("we", "us", "our") built 42 PDF Editor as a free PDF editor. This policy explains what the app handles and where it goes. The short version: your documents stay on your device and in the storage providers you choose. 42 PDF Editor has no accounts, no servers of its own and no analytics, and it contains no code that sends your documents or data to us or to anyone else.
1. What We Collect
Nothing. We operate no servers for the app and receive no data from it. We cannot see your documents, your signatures, or how you use the app.
2. Your Documents
The app reads and writes only the documents you open with it: through the system file picker, from the Files app or the share sheet (Open in 42 PDF Editor), or in its own folder, On My iPhone › 42 PDF Editor. Changes are saved back to the same file, or to a new copy where you choose. New PDFs, scans and Word exports are saved in the app's own folder, which you can also see in the Files app. Documents in iCloud Drive, Dropbox or any other provider are stored and synced by that provider under its own terms.
3. What the App Stores on Your Device
- Recent documents: each one's name, where it is (its path), when you last opened it, and a security-scoped bookmark, the permission iOS gives the app to reopen that file without asking you to pick it again. The list keeps up to 30 documents.
- Signatures: the strokes of each signature you draw, its ink colour and the date you made it. They are kept in a file in the app's private storage, written with iOS's complete file protection, so the file cannot be read while your device is locked. A signature goes into a document only when you place it there. Like the rest of the app's data, signatures are included in your device backup (iCloud Backup or a computer backup) if you have backups turned on.
- One preference: the page layout you last chose (continuous, single page or horizontal).
- Temporary copies made to share, export or save a document. They go in the app's temporary folder and are removed the next time you share and when the app next starts.
None of it is transmitted. It is not part of any account, because there is no account.
4. PDF Passwords
When you unlock a protected PDF, the password is used to open it and, when you save, to protect the file again. It is held in memory only while the document is open and is never stored or sent anywhere. A password you add is applied using the PDF format's own encryption.
5. Camera
The camera is used only by the document scanner (Apple's VisionKit), and only while the scanner is open. iOS asks your permission the first time. Scanned pages go straight into your document on the device; the app keeps no other copy and takes no photos of its own. If you decline camera access, everything else in the app still works.
6. Photos
Making a PDF from photos, adding photos as pages, placing an image and choosing a picture for a watermark all use the system photo picker, which gives the app only the photos you select. The app cannot browse your photo library and never saves to it, so it does not ask for photo library permission.
7. On-Device Processing
Reading, editing, saving and password protection use Apple's PDFKit. Text recognition for scanned pages, when you export to Word, uses Apple's Vision framework on the device. Word documents are converted by the app's own code, with page layout done by Apple's WebKit with scripts turned off; pictures that a Word file links to on the web are left out rather than downloaded. No document ever leaves the device for processing.
8. Links in Documents
The app does not connect to the internet. If you tap a web link inside a PDF while browsing it, the link opens in Safari, as it would from any other app.
9. Sharing and Printing Are Always Your Choice
Nothing is shared automatically. When you tap Share or Print, iOS hands the document to the app, printer or service you pick, and from that point its privacy policy applies.
10. No Tracking, No Ads, No Third-Party SDKs
The app contains no advertising, no analytics, no crash-reporting services and no tracking identifiers. It does not use the Advertising Identifier and does not "track" you as defined by Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework.
11. Children
The app is rated 4+. Because we collect no data at all, we hold no personal information about anyone, including children.
12. Your Control and Your Rights
- Swipe a recent document to remove it, or tap Clear to empty the list.
- Swipe a saved signature to delete it.
- Rename or delete the documents in the app's own folder from its home screen or from the Files app.
- Deleting the app removes its recent list, its signatures, its preference and the documents in its own folder (On My iPhone › 42 PDF Editor). Move any document you want to keep out of that folder first. Documents you opened from anywhere else stay where they are.
There is no request to make of us under GDPR, CCPA or similar laws, because we hold nothing to disclose, correct or erase.
13. Data Retention
We retain nothing, for any period. The app keeps the items above on your device until you remove them or delete the app.
14. Security
Your documents are protected by your device's own security: your passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and iOS app sandboxing, which lets the app reach only its own folder and the documents you pick. Signatures also have complete file protection. Keep your device updated and locked.
15. International Users
We receive no data, so no data is transferred to us from any country.
16. Changes to This Policy
If this policy changes, the dates at the top change with it, and material changes will be described in the app's release notes.
17. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at hello@cs42.org.
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