Privacy Policy for PDF Forge

PDF Forge (“PDF Forge,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is a Chrome extension designed to compress and manage PDF files directly in your browser.

We take privacy seriously. PDF Forge is designed around a simple principle:

Your PDF files should stay on your device.

This Privacy Policy explains what information PDF Forge collects, how PDF files are processed, what permissions the extension uses, and how your information is handled.

1. Information We Collect

PDF Forge is designed to operate without requiring you to create an account or provide personal information.

PDF Files

PDF Forge does not upload your PDF files to our servers.

When you select or drop a PDF into the extension, the file is processed locally within your browser using client-side technologies.

Your PDF content is not transmitted to us for compression.

Personal Information

PDF Forge does not intentionally collect personal information such as:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Home address
  • Account passwords
  • Payment information

No account is required to use the core PDF compression functionality.

Usage Data

The extension does not intentionally collect information about the contents of your PDF files.

If we introduce optional analytics or diagnostic functionality in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated before such functionality is introduced.

2. How PDF Files Are Processed

PDF Forge uses browser-based processing technologies to compress your PDF files.

The general processing flow is:

Select PDF → Process locally → Generate compressed PDF → Download

Your original PDF remains on your device during this process.

For bulk compression, PDF Forge’s Workbench manages your selected files locally in the browser and processes them through the local PDF processing engine.

3. No PDF Uploads

PDF Forge does not require you to upload your PDFs to a remote server for compression.

We do not sell, rent, or share your PDF documents with third parties.

We do not use the contents of your PDFs for advertising, profiling, artificial intelligence training, or other unrelated purposes.

4. Temporary Local Data

PDF Forge may temporarily store files, processing information, settings, or generated compressed PDFs locally in your browser when required for functionality.

This may include:

  • Files waiting in the Workbench queue
  • Compression results
  • Temporary processing data
  • User preferences
  • Compression settings
  • Workbench state

This information is stored locally using browser-supported storage mechanisms where necessary.

Temporary files and generated data may be removed when they are no longer required.

You can also remove locally stored extension data by clearing the extension’s storage or uninstalling the extension, subject to Chrome’s storage behavior.

5. Browser Permissions

PDF Forge requests only the permissions necessary for its functionality.

Depending on the installed version and features, permissions may be used to:

  • Allow the extension interface to function
  • Allow you to select and process PDF files
  • Manage local extension data
  • Open the PDF Workbench
  • Download files generated by the extension

PDF Forge does not request access to your browsing history, passwords, cookies, or unrelated website content unless a future feature specifically requires such access and the extension’s permissions are updated accordingly.

6. File Downloads

When you choose to download a compressed PDF or ZIP file, PDF Forge creates the resulting file locally and provides it to your browser for download.

PDF Forge does not use your downloaded files for any other purpose.

7. Third-Party Services

The core PDF compression functionality is designed to operate without sending PDF documents to third-party processing services.

PDF Forge does not use third-party cloud storage or remote PDF-processing APIs for the core compression process.

If third-party services are introduced for optional features in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy to explain what information is shared, why it is shared, and how that service is used.

8. Advertising

PDF Forge does not need access to the contents of your PDFs in order to provide its core functionality.

We do not use PDF contents to personalize advertisements.

If advertising or other monetization services are introduced in a future version, this Privacy Policy will be updated to describe the relevant data practices.

9. Data Security

Because PDF processing occurs locally, your documents do not need to travel over the internet to be compressed.

We nevertheless recommend keeping Chrome and your operating system updated and using trusted devices when processing sensitive documents.

No software can guarantee absolute security, but PDF Forge is designed to minimize unnecessary data transmission.

10. Children’s Privacy

PDF Forge is a general-purpose productivity tool and does not intentionally collect personal information from children.

Because the extension does not require an account or intentionally collect personal information, there is no separate child account system.

11. Your Choices

You can control your PDF files by:

  • Choosing which files to process
  • Removing files from the Workbench
  • Downloading or deleting generated files
  • Clearing extension storage through Chrome
  • Uninstalling the extension

You are always in control of which documents you provide to PDF Forge.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the extension’s functionality, data practices, or legal requirements change.

When changes are made, the Last Updated date at the top of this page will be updated.

We encourage users to periodically review this page for the latest information.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or PDF Forge’s privacy practices, please contact us at:

Email: [your support email]

Website: [your website]

14. Summary

PDF Forge is built with privacy in mind.

Our core principles are:

  • PDF files are processed locally.
  • PDF documents are not uploaded to our servers for compression.
  • No account is required for core functionality.
  • We do not sell PDF contents.
  • We do not use PDF contents for advertising or AI training.
  • Bulk processing is performed locally in the browser.
  • User settings are stored locally where possible.
  • We request only permissions necessary for the extension’s functionality.

PDF Forge — Compress PDFs privately, directly on your device.