PDF Tools privacy and security
How your documents are handled, in plain words.
Most tools never receive your file
All editing, organizing, PDF-to-image and PDF-to-Office conversions, compression, OCR, password protection, unlocking, repair, flattening, watermarking, redaction and form tools run inside your web browser. The page loads the program code from whyshared.com, and your browser does the processing on your device. The document is not sent to WhyShared or to anyone else. You can check this yourself: the tools keep working if you disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded.
Tools that use our server
Word to PDF, Excel to PDF and PowerPoint to PDF need a complete office suite, so these files are uploaded over an encrypted HTTPS connection to our own server in India and converted with LibreOffice. For these tools:
- Files are stored in a private folder that is not reachable from the web, under a random name.
- The uploaded original is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes. The PDF is kept only so you can download it, and it is deleted automatically within 15 minutes. You can delete it straight away with the Delete now button.
- Only the browser session that uploaded a file can download the result.
- We don't open, read, copy, index or log the contents or names of your documents.
- Only Office documents of the expected type are accepted. Every file is checked by its actual contents, not just its name. Macro-enabled documents and documents that load files from other servers are refused.
What we do record
To stop abuse of the server tools, we keep short-lived counters of how many conversions came from a network address, stored as a salted one-way hash rather than the address itself, plus a daily total of conversions per tool. These counters contain nothing about your documents.
Server tools are protected by Google reCAPTCHA v3, which sends information about your browser and how you use the page to Google so it can estimate whether you are a person or an automated program. Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Signing in
Signing in with Google is optional. It raises your limit for server conversions. If you sign in, we store your Google account ID, email address and name so we can recognize you, and nothing else. Saved signatures stay in your own browser's storage and are never sent to us. To have your account record deleted, email support@whyshared.com.
Cookies and storage
We set one session cookie that keeps the server tools secure (it ties a conversion to your browser and protects against cross-site requests). Your browser's local storage keeps your saved signatures and tool preferences on your device. You can clear them at any time in your browser settings.
Questions
Email support@whyshared.com.