Privacy Policy — Smart PDF
Smart PDF for Android · package com.app.smart_pdf
The short version
- Your documents are processed on your phone. We never upload, copy or read them.
- There is no account and no login. We do not ask for your name, email or phone number.
- The app is free and paid for by ads. Google AdMob is the only third party involved, and it collects your device's advertising ID and IP address to serve those ads.
- That is the entire extent of it. We run no analytics, no crash reporting and no trackers of our own.
1. Who we are
Smart PDF is developed and published by Mohit Kanthariya ("we", "us"), an independent developer based in India. For anything in this policy — questions, requests, complaints — write to kanthariyamohit1@gmail.com. We answer personally.
This policy covers the Smart PDF Android application distributed on Google Play. It does not cover any other app or website.
2. What the app does with your documents
Smart PDF converts, merges, splits, compresses, scans, locks, unlocks and watermarks PDF files. Every one of those operations runs entirely on your device.
Your PDFs, images, scans and passwords are never transmitted to us or to anyone else. They are not uploaded to a server, not stored in a cloud, and not visible to us in any form. Files you create stay in the folder you chose, on your phone, until you delete them or the app's optional auto-delete setting removes them.
Passwords you type to lock or unlock a PDF are used in memory for that single operation and are never stored or sent anywhere.
3. Information we collect ourselves
None. We operate no servers and no accounts. We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, contacts, precise location, or the contents or names of your files.
The app stores your preferences — theme, language, save location, output quality, auto-delete setting — locally on your device only. Uninstalling the app removes them.
4. Information collected by Google AdMob
Smart PDF is free because it shows advertisements supplied by Google AdMob, part of Google LLC. To select and measure those ads, the Google Mobile Ads SDK inside the app collects and shares the following with Google and its advertising partners:
| What | Why it is collected |
|---|---|
| Android advertising ID and App Set ID | To select ads, limit how often the same ad repeats, and measure whether an ad led to an install |
| IP address | To estimate your general area — country or city level — so ads are relevant and in a sensible language |
| Ad interactions | Which ads were shown, viewed or tapped |
| Diagnostic and device information | Device model, operating system version, and ad SDK performance data used to detect faults and invalid traffic |
This information is shared with Google and its advertising partners for advertising, measurement, analytics and fraud prevention. It is transmitted over an encrypted connection (TLS).
Google's handling of this data is governed by its own policies, not ours:
Google AdMob is the only third-party service in Smart PDF. There is no Firebase Analytics, no crash reporting service, no social login and no other SDK that collects data.
5. Device permissions
The app asks only for what a given feature needs, at the moment it needs it:
- Camera — only when you use Scan to PDF. Images captured go straight into the PDF on your device. We do not access the camera at any other time.
- Photos, media and files — to let you pick the documents you want to work on and to save the results where you chose.
- Internet and network state — used solely to load ads. The PDF tools themselves do not need a connection.
You can withdraw any permission at any time in Android Settings → Apps → Smart PDF → Permissions. The features that need it will stop working; the rest of the app continues normally.
6. Your choices about ads
You are not stuck with the defaults:
- Reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads. Deleting it stops personalised advertising across every app on the device.
- If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, the app shows a Google-certified consent form on first launch. You choose there whether to allow personalised ads, and you may refuse. Refusing does not restrict any feature of the app — you will simply see non-personalised ads.
- If you are in a US state with a privacy law, the app shows the equivalent opt-out message, and you may opt out of the sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.
- You may also email us at kanthariyamohit1@gmail.com to exercise any right described below.
7. How long data is kept
We keep nothing, because we collect nothing. Files you create live on your device until you remove them, or until the app's optional auto-delete setting clears older files — that setting is off unless you turn it on, and it only ever deletes files inside the app's own output folder.
Data collected by the Google Mobile Ads SDK is retained by Google according to Google's own retention schedules, described in its privacy policy linked above.
8. Security
Because your documents never leave the device, the main risk to them is physical access to your phone rather than a breach of our systems — we hold no systems containing your data. Data sent by the ads SDK is encrypted in transit using TLS.
No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of information handled by third parties.
9. Children
Smart PDF is a general-purpose productivity tool. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA and UK). We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.
If you believe a child has used the app in a way that resulted in data being collected, email us and we will help you get it removed at the source.
10. Your rights
10.1 If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland (GDPR / UK GDPR)
Where advertising data is processed, the legal basis is your consent, gathered through the Google-certified consent form shown on first launch. You may withdraw consent at any time, and withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before it.
You have the right to request access to your personal data, and its rectification, erasure or restriction; to object to processing; to data portability; and to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.
Because we hold no personal data ourselves, most of these requests must be directed to Google as the controller of advertising data. Email us and we will point you to the right place and help you get there.
10.2 If you are a California resident (CCPA / CPRA)
We do not sell your personal information for money. However, the delivery of personalised advertising through Google AdMob may qualify as "sharing" personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising under the CPRA.
The categories involved are identifiers (the advertising ID), internet or other electronic network activity (ad interactions), and approximate geolocation derived from your IP address. We do not collect sensitive personal information, and we do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those described in this policy.
You have the right to know what is collected, to delete it, to correct it, to opt out of its sale or sharing, and not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. To opt out: use the privacy message shown in the app, or turn on Opt out of Ads Personalisation / delete your advertising ID in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads, or email kanthariyamohit1@gmail.com with "Do Not Share" in the subject line. We respond within 45 days.
10.3 If you are in India (DPDP Act, 2023)
You have the right to obtain information about the personal data processed about you, to seek its correction or erasure, to nominate another person to exercise your rights, and to raise a grievance. As we hold no personal data ourselves, we will direct such requests to Google where the data resides. Our grievance contact is kanthariyamohit1@gmail.com.
11. International transfers
Google processes advertising data on servers located in various countries, which may be outside your own. Those transfers are made under Google's own safeguards, described in its privacy policy. We ourselves transfer nothing, because we receive nothing.
12. Changes to this policy
If we add a feature or a service that changes what is collected, we will update this page and move the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes will also be noted in the app's release notes on Google Play. Continuing to use the app after an update means you accept the revised policy.
13. Contact
Questions, privacy requests, or anything unclear in this document:
Email: kanthariyamohit1@gmail.com
Developer: Mohit Kanthariya
App: Smart PDF (com.app.smart_pdf)