Privacy Policy

1Who we are

This Privacy Policy explains how Def24 Inc. ("Def24", "we", "us", "our"), a company based in the United States, handles personal information in connection with:

• the PDFMate application for macOS, whether you download it from our Website or get it from the Mac App Store (the "App"), and
• the PDFMate website at pdfmate.org (also served at pdfmate-org.web.app), including its download page (the "Website").

"Personal information" means information that identifies you or can reasonably be linked to you. You can reach us at info@def24.com. By using the App or the Website, you acknowledge the practices described in this policy.

2Our principle: your documents stay on your Mac

PDFMate is built so that it does not need your data. Everything the App does with your documents happens locally on your Mac: opening, editing, annotating, redacting, organising, converting, protecting, signing, recognising text, and analysing pages. The App does not upload documents. It does not require an account, and it works offline.

The App never sends your documents, or anything it learns from them, to us or to anyone else. We do not receive, store or have access to your documents or to anything the App learns from them. We cannot see, restore or delete data on your Mac. That data is under your control alone.

3What the App does not do

PDFMate does not:

• connect to the internet on its own, apart from the update check in the copy downloaded from our Website (section 7). The copy from the Mac App Store makes no network connections of its own;
• create an account, sign you in, or ask for your name or email address;
• collect usage statistics, analytics, telemetry, crash reports or advertising identifiers (the reports Apple itself prepares for apps from the Mac App Store are described in section 8);
• show advertising or contain any advertising or tracking code;
• store your documents in a cloud or send them to an online service, including online AI services;
• contain third-party code. PDFMate is built only on frameworks that are part of macOS;
• ask for access to your camera, microphone, contacts, photos or location;
• download or install anything on its own;
• sell or share personal information.

4How the App analyses your documents, on your Mac

Some features read the content of your documents to help you. They all run on your Mac, using technology built into macOS. The features in the table below run only when you start them; name suggestions also run when you choose Save As for an untitled document or a raw scanner file (see 4.1). When you open a document, PDFMate only checks, on your Mac, whether its pages contain text (for the status bar) and whether any digital signatures in it are valid.

The results (recognised text, marks, badges, suggestions) are kept in memory while you work. They are written into your files only when you choose to, for example when you add a text layer, apply redactions or save.

4.1Apple Intelligence (suggested names)

On macOS 26 or later, PDFMate can use Apple's on-device language model (Apple Intelligence) to choose the topic words for a suggested file name and to propose a title, subject and keywords. For this, PDFMate gives the model the text of the first two pages of the document and a list of dates found in that text. The model runs on your Mac. PDFMate does not use Apple's Private Cloud Compute, ChatGPT or any other online model, and no document text is sent anywhere.

• When it runs: only when you choose File ▸ Rename with Suggested Name… or File ▸ Properties… ▸ Suggest, or when you choose Save As for an untitled document or one with a raw scanner name (such as "SKM_…", "Scan…" or "IMG_…").
• Requirements: macOS 26 or later on your Mac with Apple silicon, with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings ▸ Apple Intelligence & Siri, and the model ready for the language PDFMate uses for name suggestions.
• Your choice: Settings ▸ Intelligence ▸ "Use Apple Intelligence for suggestions" (on by default). When it is off, or Apple Intelligence is not available, PDFMate suggests names from the document's own date and subject line only, without the model.

The model, its download and its updates are provided by Apple under Apple's terms and privacy policy.

5What the App stores on your Mac

To work the way you set it up, the App keeps the following on your Mac only. We never receive any of it.

To remove everything, quit PDFMate, delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/PDFMate/ and the App's preferences, then delete the App.

The copy from the Mac App Store runs in the sandbox macOS gives App Store apps, so macOS keeps all of the above, preferences included, inside the App's own container folder, ~/Library/Containers/org.pdfmate.PDFMate/ (Finder may show it as "PDFMate"). The folder the table names, ~/Library/Application Support/PDFMate/, is Data/Library/Application Support/PDFMate/ inside it. To remove everything, quit PDFMate, delete the App, then delete that container folder.

Information PDFMate writes into your documents. When you work on a PDF, some personal information can end up inside the file, where anyone who receives the file can read it:

• the author name on comments you add;
• the document properties you enter or accept (title, author, subject, keywords);
• the details of a Digital ID used to sign (name, and if entered, email address, organisation and country);
• signatures, stamps, form entries and attachments you add.

Check a file's properties, comments and attachments before you share it.

Earlier versions. PDFMate uses macOS autosave, so your changes can be written to the original file automatically. macOS, Time Machine, iCloud Drive or other backup and sync services may keep earlier versions of your files. Those copies are managed by macOS or by those services, not by PDFMate.

6When information leaves your Mac: only when you choose

Apart from the update check in section 7, which only the copy downloaded from our Website makes and which carries no document data, the App sends nothing on its own. Information leaves your Mac only when you use a macOS feature or another app that sends it. That feature or app then handles the information under its own terms:

• Clipboard: Capture Text and Copy Table put text on the macOS clipboard. If Universal Clipboard (Handoff) is on, macOS can make the clipboard available on your other Apple devices.
• Share, Print, Services: sending a document through the Share menu, printing, or using a macOS Service hands it to the destination you pick.
• Look Up and Speak / Read Aloud use macOS. Depending on your Mac's settings, Look Up may show results from online sources. Read Aloud uses the voices installed on your Mac.
• Links and attachments: clicking a web link in a PDF opens it in your browser. Opening an attachment opens it in the app macOS assigns to it.
• Converting HTML files: when you open or convert an HTML file, the macOS HTML importer may load images or style sheets that the file links to on the internet, just as a browser would (only in the copy downloaded from our Website; the copy from the Mac App Store has no network access).
• Files you export or save go wherever you put them, including cloud-synced folders.

7Update check (copy from our Website only)

The copy of PDFMate downloaded from our Website checks whether a newer version is available. This check is the only network connection PDFMate makes on its own. About 30 seconds after it starts, and then every 24 hours, the App requests a small file, https://pdfmate.org/update-macos.json, from our Website over an encrypted HTTPS connection. It makes the same request whenever you choose Help ▸ Check for Updates…, also when automatic checks are turned off.

• What is sent: an ordinary web request, with no document data, no account, no cookies and no identifier of ours. Like any web request, it reveals your IP address, the time, the address requested and a user agent that names the App and its build number and the versions of macOS's network software and system core (Darwin); the Darwin version reveals your Mac's macOS version.
• Who receives it: our Website, pdfmate.org, which Google hosts for us on Google Firebase Hosting (see section 9). Google logs the request as it logs any website visit. We do not use the check to count, identify or track users.
• What happens: if a newer version exists, the App shows a notice with a link to our download page, https://pdfmate.org/download. The App never downloads or installs anything on its own; whether to update is up to you.
• Your choice: the automatic check is on by default. Turn it off in Settings ▸ General ▸ "Check for updates automatically"; Help ▸ Check for Updates… then checks only when you choose it. You can always check the Website yourself instead.

The copy from the Mac App Store has no update check and makes no network connections of its own. Apple delivers it and its updates through the Mac App Store, under Apple's terms and privacy policy (section 8). You choose whether the App Store installs updates automatically in the App Store app's settings.

8Apple, macOS and the Mac App Store

PDFMate runs on macOS and uses Apple frameworks. Apple's own functions are governed by Apple's terms and privacy policy, which we do not control. Examples:

• the Mac App Store, which delivers the App Store copy of PDFMate and its updates;
• the check macOS runs the first time you open an app downloaded from the internet;
• Apple Intelligence and its model downloads;
• iCloud Drive, Handoff and Universal Clipboard;
• diagnostic reports you may have chosen to share with Apple.

What these functions collect goes to Apple. We receive none of it, except the reports about the Mac App Store copy described below.

If you get PDFMate from the Mac App Store, Apple handles the download, your Apple Account and the App's updates, and does not give us your name, email address or Apple Account. Apple gives app developers reports in its developer portal: aggregated numbers, such as downloads by country, and, only if you allow your Mac to share with app developers (System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Analytics & Improvements ▸ "Share with app developers"), crash reports and statistics about how the App is used. Apple says this information does not identify you personally. We use these reports only to count downloads and to find and fix problems. Ratings and reviews you post on the App Store are public and are handled by Apple.

If you join a PDFMate beta through TestFlight, Apple gives us your name, your email address and any feedback you send, which we use only to run the beta.

9The Website

The Website is a static site. It has no user accounts, no comments and no forms.

Hosting and server logs. The Website, the PDFMate downloads and the file the update check reads (section 7) are hosted by Google Firebase Hosting (Google LLC), which acts as our service provider under Google's data processing terms. When you visit a page or download a file, your browser necessarily sends technical data, which Google processes to deliver the page and to protect the service against abuse:

• your IP address;
• the date and time;
• the address requested;
• your browser's user agent;
• the referring page, if your browser sends one.

We do not use this data to identify you, and we do not combine it with other data. According to Google, Firebase Hosting keeps IP data for a few months.

No cookies, no tracking. The Website sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser (no local storage). It uses no analytics, advertising, social media plugins or tracking pixels. It loads no fonts, scripts or other content from third parties: everything comes from the Website itself.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. The Website does not track you over time or across other websites, and it lets no third party do so. There is therefore nothing for a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal to switch off. We treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, which we do not do in any case.

Agreeing to the Terms before downloading. Before the download starts, you tick a box to agree to our Terms of Use, including their arbitration agreement, and to confirm that you have read this policy. Your choice is not stored: no cookie is set, nothing is saved in your browser, and we keep no record of it. The download itself is an ordinary request and appears in the server logs described above.

Links to other websites. If you follow a link to another website, that site's privacy policy applies.

10When you email us

If you write to info@def24.com, we receive your email address, your name if you give it, and the contents of your message, including anything you attach. We use this only to answer you and to handle your request. We do not use it for marketing, and we do not sell or share it.

• Service provider: our email service provider stores and delivers the messages for us.
• Retention: we delete correspondence when it is no longer needed for your request, unless the law requires us to keep it longer, for example for business or tax records.
• Arbitration opt-outs and notices of dispute. If you email us to opt out of the arbitration agreement in our Terms of Use or to reject a change to it, or send us a notice of dispute under them, we keep that message and our reply as a record for as long as we need it to honour your choice or to resolve the dispute, including any period in which a claim could still be brought.

Please do not send us your documents or other confidential or sensitive information. We do not need them to help you. If a bug report needs a sample, please make a file without personal data.

11Summary: what we collect, why, and how long we keep it

You do not have to give us any personal information to use the App. Without the technical data in section 9, the Website cannot be shown.

12How we share personal information

• We do not sell personal information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we do not use it for targeted advertising or profiling.
• Service providers. Google (hosting) and our email service provider process the information in sections 7, 9 and 10 on our behalf, under their terms with us.
• Legal reasons. We may disclose information if the law, a court order or a valid request from a public authority requires it, or to protect the rights, safety or property of Def24, our users or others, including to prevent fraud and abuse.
• Business transfers. If Def24 is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, the little information we hold may be transferred as part of it, subject to this policy.

13Your choices and rights

• On your Mac. Everything the App stores is on your Mac and under your control. You can view, change or delete it as described in section 5. We cannot access it.
• Information we hold. You can ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, and to correct or delete it, by emailing info@def24.com. Usually the only personal information we hold is email correspondence and, at our hosting provider, server logs.
• Verification. To protect you, we may need to confirm that a request comes from you, for example by asking you to write from the email address you used before.
• Appeal. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our answer. We will tell you the result and, where your state's law provides it, how to contact your state's attorney general.
• No discrimination. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

Depending on where you live, you may have further rights. Sections 14 and 16 describe them for California residents and for visitors from outside the United States.

14California residents

This section gives California residents the information required by the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (the "CCPA"), to the extent it applies to us, and by the California Online Privacy Protection Act.

• Categories collected in the past 12 months:

  • Identifiers: IP address (in hosting logs); email address and name, if you email us.
  • Internet or other electronic network activity: browser user agent, the pages and files requested, the date and time, and the referring page (in hosting logs).
  • Anything else you choose to put in an email to us.

  We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information. If you include some in an email, we use it only to answer you and do not use it to infer anything about you.

• Sources: your browser and the update check of the copy from our Website, through our hosting provider; and you, when you email us.

• Purposes: as described in sections 7 and 9 to 11.

• Disclosures for business purposes: identifiers and network activity to our hosting provider; identifiers and message contents to our email service provider.

• No sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information, as the CCPA defines those terms, and have not done so in the past 12 months. We have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of anyone under 16.

• Retention: see section 11.

• Your rights: to know what personal information we collected about you and to get a copy of it; to have it deleted; to have it corrected; to opt out of its sale or sharing (there is none to opt out of); to limit the use of sensitive personal information (we do not use any); and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

• How to exercise them: email info@def24.com. We verify a request by matching it with the information we hold, for example the email address you wrote from. An authorised agent may make a request for you with your signed permission. We respond within the time the law requires.

• Direct marketing ("Shine the Light"). We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

• Do Not Track: see section 9.

15Children

The App and the Website are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The App collects no personal information from anyone. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, for example by email, please contact us and we will delete it.

16International visitors

We are based in the United States. The App processes your documents on your own Mac, wherever you are. Our hosting provider and our email service provider may process the information described in sections 7, 9 and 10 in the United States and in other countries where they operate. The data protection laws there may differ from those where you live.

Visitors from the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Where the GDPR or a similar law applies, we are responsible (as "controller") for the information in sections 7, 9 and 10. We process it because we have a legitimate interest in delivering a secure Website and update check and in answering messages, and, where you ask us for something, to do what you asked. Our providers transfer data to the United States under recognised safeguards, such as certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions, or standard contractual clauses. You have the right to access, correct or delete your information, to restrict or object to its processing, and to receive it in a portable format. You may also complain to the data protection authority where you live or work. To exercise these rights, email info@def24.com.

17Security

The Website is served only over encrypted connections (HTTPS). We take reasonable measures to protect the little personal information we receive. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for unauthorised access to, or loss of, information that is outside our reasonable control. The security of your documents and your Mac is in your hands: keep macOS up to date, use a password and FileVault, and keep backups.

18Changes to this policy

We will update this policy if the App, the Website or the law changes. Each version shows its effective date at the top. We will post material changes on this page and, where the law requires, take additional steps to tell you. If you keep using the App or the Website after a change takes effect, the updated policy applies.

19Relationship to the Terms of Use

This policy explains how we handle personal information. It is provided for transparency and does not create any warranty or contractual obligation beyond what applicable law requires. It is subject to, and does not limit, the disclaimers of warranty and limitations of liability in our Terms of Use. Nothing in this policy or the Terms limits rights you have under privacy law that cannot be waived.

20Contact

Questions about privacy or this policy: info@def24.com · Def24 Inc.