Privacy Policy

Last updated: 15 May 2025 · Effective: 15 May 2025

    Summary: We collect only what's needed to run your account. We don't sell your data.
    Your uploaded PDFs are stored on our servers and are deleted when you delete them or close your account.
    AI redesigns send your PDF's text content to Anthropic's API — no images, no personal info unless your PDF contains it.
  

1. Who We Are

pdfonweb.com ("pdfonweb", "we", "us", "our") is an online platform that lets users upload PDF documents, share them as interactive flipbooks, and optionally redesign them using AI. We operate at pdfonweb.com and user subdomains (e.g., yourname.pdfonweb.com).

For questions about this policy or your data, contact us at [email protected].

2. Data We Collect

2.1 Account Data

Email address — used to log in and receive service notifications
Username — becomes your subdomain (e.g., username.pdfonweb.com)
Password — stored as a one-way bcrypt hash; we never store or see your plain-text password
Brand name & logo — optional; shown in your flipbook viewer bar
BU coin balance & transaction history — records of credits, redesign debits, and refunds
Account creation timestamp

2.2 PDF & File Data

The PDF files you upload, stored securely on our server
Rendered page images (JPEG thumbnails) generated from your PDF
PDF metadata: title, page count, dimensions, file size, upload date
AI-redesigned PDFs created from your originals

2.3 Usage & Analytics Data

When someone views one of your public flipbooks, we collect (with cookie consent):

A randomly generated anonymous visitor ID (pfw_vid cookie, valid 365 days)
Session start time, session duration, pages viewed, and whether the visitor is a repeat reader
No IP addresses, no names, no email addresses of viewers are recorded

This data is shown to the PDF owner in their dashboard analytics. It is never sold or shared with third parties.

2.4 Technical Data

Authentication cookie (pfw_t) — HttpOnly JWT, valid 30 days, domain-scoped to .pdfonweb.com
Server request logs (IP, path, timestamp) — retained for 14 days for security and debugging only
Push notification tokens (if you use the mobile app) — stored to send you job completion alerts

3. How We Use Your Data

To provide the service — hosting your PDFs, rendering flipbooks, processing AI redesign jobs
To run your account — authentication, billing, coin balance management
To show you analytics — aggregated view stats on your own PDFs
To send notifications — job completion alerts via push (mobile app only; opt-in)
To improve the service — aggregate, anonymised usage patterns (never individual-level)
To comply with law — if required by a valid legal process

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.

4. AI Redesign & Third-Party Processing

    When you trigger an AI redesign job, we extract the text content of your PDF (up to 15,000 characters) and send it to Anthropic, Inc. via their API to generate a new HTML layout. No page images, no embedded personal data from your account, and no viewer analytics are sent to Anthropic.
  

Anthropic's data handling is governed by their Privacy Policy. Anthropic does not use API-submitted content to train their models by default (as per their API usage policy).

We use Puppeteer (headless Chromium running on our own server) to render the AI-generated HTML into a PDF — this processing stays entirely on our infrastructure.

5. Data Sharing

We share data only in these limited circumstances:

Anthropic API — PDF text content only, for AI redesign jobs you initiate
Expo Push Notification Service — your device push token, to deliver job-complete notifications you've opted into
Legal obligation — if required by court order, subpoena, or applicable law, we will notify you where legally permitted
Business transfer — in a merger or acquisition, your data would transfer subject to this same policy

We do not use advertising networks, analytics platforms (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.), or any other third-party trackers.

6. Your Public Flipbooks

By default, any PDF you upload is accessible to anyone who has the link (username.pdfonweb.com/v/slug). This URL is not actively promoted or listed publicly by pdfonweb unless you share it yourself. Your flipbooks are link-accessible, not publicly indexed by us — however, if someone shares your link, search engines may index it.

You can delete any flipbook from your dashboard at any time to make it permanently inaccessible.

7. Cookies

pfw_t — authentication JWT, HttpOnly, 30-day expiry. Required to use the dashboard.
pfw_vid — anonymous viewer identifier for analytics. Set only after cookie consent is given. 365-day expiry. Contains no personal information.

We use no advertising cookies, no cross-site tracking cookies, and no third-party cookies.

8. Data Retention & Deletion

Data Type	Retention Period	What Happens on Deletion
Uploaded PDF files & page images	Until you delete the PDF or close your account	Deleted from disk within 24 hours. Removed from all backups within 30 days.
AI-redesigned PDF files	Until you delete the redesigned PDF or close your account	Same as above — deleted within 24 hours, purged from backups within 30 days.
PDF view session analytics	Up to 90 days after the viewing session	When you delete a PDF, its view sessions are deleted immediately. Anonymous data (no PDF link, no viewer ID) may remain in aggregate stats for up to 90 days.
Redesign job records	90 days after job completion or failure	Purged automatically. Job logs (template used, token counts) deleted with the record.
Coin transaction history	7 years (financial record-keeping obligation)	On account deletion, transactions are anonymised (user ID nullified) but the financial record is retained for 7 years as required by accounting regulations.
Account (email, username, password hash)	Until account deletion is requested	Email and password hash deleted immediately. Username held for 90 days to prevent re-registration impersonation, then permanently purged.
Server request logs	14 days, rolling	Auto-rotated. Not tied to your account.
Push notification tokens	Until you log out or close your account	Deleted immediately on account closure or explicit logout.
Brand logo & brand name	Until removed or account closed	Logo file deleted from disk within 24 hours of removal or account closure.

Account deletion: You can delete your account directly from your dashboard — open Settings, go to the API Keys tab, and click "Delete my account" in the Danger Zone. All your PDFs and account data are deleted immediately. Alternatively, email [email protected] with the subject "Delete my account" and we will process it within 7 business days.

9. Data Security

All traffic to pdfonweb.com is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS
Passwords are hashed using bcrypt (cost factor 12) — irreversible
Authentication tokens are HttpOnly cookies — not accessible to JavaScript
Our server runs in a dedicated environment; database files are not publicly accessible
File uploads are stored outside the web root and served via authenticated routes only

No system is perfectly secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly to [email protected].

10. Children's Privacy

pdfonweb is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us at [email protected] and we will delete the account promptly.

11. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
Correction — update your email, username, or brand details via your dashboard
Deletion — request full account and data deletion (see Section 8)
Portability — request an export of your PDFs and account data
Objection — object to any processing where we rely on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the product evolves. Material changes will be announced via email to registered users at least 14 days before taking effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version. Continuing to use pdfonweb after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or security reports: