What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that websites store on your device when you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently, to remember your preferences, and to provide information to website owners about how visitors use their sites. Cookies cannot run programs or transmit viruses -- they are simply small data files that are stored locally on your device by your browser.

Cookies PDFFlow uses

PDFFlow uses a minimal set of cookies that serve specific functional and analytical purposes. Analytical cookies from Google Analytics (GA4) collect anonymized data about how visitors navigate the site -- which pages are visited, how long visitors stay, and which tools are used most frequently. This data is aggregated and contains no personally identifying information. It is used to understand which tools and content are most valuable to users so we can prioritize improvements. Advertising cookies from Google AdSense allow Google to display relevant advertisements to visitors. These cookies track browsing behavior across websites to serve ads that are more likely to be relevant to individual users. You can opt out of personalized advertising through Google's ad settings at myaccount.google.com/ad-settings.

First-party vs third-party cookies

First-party cookies are set by PDFFlow directly and are used only for site functionality. Third-party cookies are set by external services -- primarily Google Analytics and Google AdSense in PDFFlow's case -- and these services have their own privacy policies governing how that data is used. Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy. PDFFlow does not share any user data with third parties beyond what is collected by Google's standard analytics and advertising infrastructure.

Your PDF files and cookies

An important clarification: PDFFlow's cookie usage is entirely separate from your PDF file processing. PDF files you upload to PDFFlow tools are processed locally in your browser using JavaScript -- no file data is transmitted to any server, and no file data is stored in cookies or any other storage mechanism. Cookies only relate to site navigation analytics and advertising. Your documents remain entirely on your device throughout their processing.

How to manage cookies

You can control cookie behavior through your browser settings. Most modern browsers allow you to view cookies stored by each website, delete specific cookies, block cookies from specific sites, or block all third-party cookies while allowing first-party cookies. In Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data. In Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data. In Firefox: Preferences > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data. Blocking all cookies may affect the functionality of some website features, though PDFFlow's core PDF tool functionality does not depend on cookies. For personalized advertising opt-out specifically, use Google's ad settings at myaccount.google.com rather than blocking cookies broadly, as this provides more granular control.

Cookie retention periods

Google Analytics cookies are retained for 13 months from the date of last activity before automatic expiration. Google AdSense cookies are retained for up to 13 months. Session cookies, if any are used, are deleted automatically when you close your browser. PDFFlow does not set any long-term persistent first-party cookies beyond what is necessary for analytics. We do not use cookies to build user profiles, track individual users across sessions for our own purposes, or store any personal information.

Updates to this policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable regulations. When we make material changes, we will update the Last Updated date at the top of this page. Continued use of PDFFlow after any changes to this policy constitutes acceptance of those changes. If you have questions about our cookie practices, contact us at support@pdfflow.live.