Vorb PDF Privacy Policy
Vorb PDF scans, opens, edits and converts PDF files on Android. This policy explains what information the app uses and why. In short: you never create an account, and your files stay on your phone, except files you choose to convert online. Those go to our server and are deleted right after the conversion.
What stays on your phone
- Your files. The PDFs and pictures you open, scan, edit, sign and save, and everything you do with them: pages, text you add, highlights and form answers. Every tool saves a new copy and never changes your original file. New files go into a Vorb PDF folder in your phone's Documents or Pictures.
- Text recognition, which makes scans searchable and their text copyable, runs on your phone.
- Your signatures and initials, kept in the app's private storage and encrypted with a key that Android keeps for the app.
- Drafts, the list of recent and favourite files (their names, sizes and where they are) and your settings.
The app's own data (drafts, signatures, the recent files list and settings) is never included in Android backups or in transfers to a new phone, and uninstalling the app deletes it. The files you saved stay in your folders until you delete them.
We do not collect your name, email, contacts or location. Your files never reach us, except a file you send for online conversion (see below).
Scanning
The scanner is Google's ML Kit Document Scanner. It runs on your phone inside Google Play services, which uses the camera for it, so Vorb PDF itself doesn't need the camera permission. Vorb PDF receives only the pages you keep. Google says the whole scanner runs on the device.
Text recognition and language files
For Latin, Chinese, Devanagari, Japanese and Korean scripts, Vorb PDF uses Google's ML Kit text recognition. Google Play services downloads it once, and then it works without internet. For other languages, such as Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Bengali, Russian and Thai, Vorb PDF downloads a free language file once from our website, vorb.id, through Cloudflare. That download asks for the language file only. Like every internet request, it carries your IP address and the basic technical details Android adds (such as the Android version and phone model), and nothing about your documents. Our web server keeps no access log of these downloads.
Google says ML Kit's processing happens on the device. ML Kit also sends Google technical information about how the scanner and text recognition run: device information (such as the manufacturer, model and Android version), the app's name and version, identifiers for each installation, performance measurements, settings, the size of the input and output, and error codes. Google uses it to measure and maintain ML Kit, encrypts it in transit and says it doesn't pass it to third parties. Learn more in Google's ML Kit data disclosure.
Online conversion
Turning Word, Excel and PowerPoint files into PDFs, and PDFs into Word or Excel files, happens on our server, convert.vorb.id. Before your first online conversion, the app explains what happens to your file and asks you. Nothing is sent until you start a conversion, and the app doesn't send the file's name.
What the app sends: the file, its type and the format you want; a random ID that the app creates for online conversion (it isn't linked to your name, phone number or Google account, and it changes if you reinstall the app or clear its storage). The server uses this ID for the daily limit and so that only your phone can fetch the result; it is deleted together with the conversion. The app also sends a signature that shows the request comes from Vorb PDF. Like every internet request, it also carries your IP address and the basic technical details Android adds. To protect the converter from abuse, the app may also include a Google Play Integrity check (see below).
How it travels: over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) through Cloudflare, the network provider that protects our server. Cloudflare passes the file on to our server and the result back to you; we have set it never to store (cache) anything from convert.vorb.id. Cloudflare's own privacy policy applies to the traffic it handles.
On our server:
- Your file is kept only in the server's memory (a RAM disk), never saved to its disk or included in a backup.
- It is converted automatically by software that has no internet access. No person opens or reads it.
- The original is deleted as soon as its conversion ends, whether or not it worked, and the result as soon as your phone has downloaded it. If you cancel, both are deleted at once.
- If the app stops checking on a conversion for 2 minutes (for example because it was closed or lost its internet connection), the conversion is cancelled and deleted. No file stays longer than 30 minutes, and a restart of the server deletes everything.
- Your file is used only for your conversion. We never share it, sell it or use it for anything else, such as training AI.
What our server records: one line per conversion with the time, the direction (for example Word to PDF), the file type, a size range, how long it took and whether it worked. Never the file's name or content, your IP address or the app's ID. Our web server keeps no access log for convert.vorb.id; only if the web server itself runs into an error can its error log record the time, the IP address and the address requested (which never contains a file name). We use that log only to fix problems.
Daily limits: to stop abuse, the server counts each day's conversions per app ID and per IP address. It keeps both only as a scrambled code (a hash), in memory, and forgets them at the end of each day (UTC) or when the server restarts.
Google Play Integrity: the app may ask Google Play to confirm that a conversion request comes from the real Vorb PDF app, installed from Google Play, on a genuine Android device. For this check, Google Play collects information about your device and the app under Google's Privacy Policy. Our server receives only Google's answer to these questions, not who you are.
App usage statistics and crash reports
We use Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics to see which tools people use and to fix problems. Besides what Google Analytics measures by itself (for example how many people use the app, sessions, screens, the device model, Android version and country), the app sends only which tool was used, whether it worked, how long it took, a size range, whether a conversion was online, which text recognition language was used (and a range of how many pages), and how a file was saved (with the watermark, after an ad, or with Pro). These events never include file names, file contents, recognised text, page images or anything you type. When the app crashes, Crashlytics sends the technical details of the crash and of the device. We also use Firebase Remote Config to adjust some settings without an app update, such as how often full-screen ads may appear.
For this, Google collects an app instance ID, an installation ID and, where allowed, your device's advertising ID. Like any internet service, Google receives your IP address and may use it to estimate a general region such as your country or city. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, this follows your choice in Google's consent form: without your consent, crash reports are not sent and Google Analytics sends only anonymous measurements without identifiers. Google processes this data for us under the Firebase privacy and security terms.
Advertising
Vorb PDF is free and shows ads from Google AdMob: a small banner on the Home and Files screens, an ad card on the screen after a finished task, sometimes a full-screen ad after a finished task once your file is saved, and a video ad you can choose to watch to save without the small "Made with Vorb PDF" line. Ads never appear in the scanner, the viewer, the editor, Fill & sign, the online conversion dialog or while a task is running. All ads are muted and limited to content rated for general audiences. Ads never receive your files or their content. To show and measure ads, Google may collect your device's advertising ID, your IP address (which may be used to estimate a general location), information about the ads you see and tap, and app performance information. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent first with Google's consent form, and you can change your choice at any time in the app's settings. You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in Android's settings. Learn more in how Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
Vorb PDF Pro
Vorb PDF Pro is a single purchase through Google Play that removes ads and the watermark and adds extra features. Google Play handles the payment; we never see your payment details. Google Play tells the app only whether you have bought it, so Pro comes back after a reinstall. Google Analytics may record the purchase (product and price) as an event.
Measuring our own ads on Facebook, Instagram and Google
We advertise Vorb PDF on Facebook and Instagram, and may also advertise it on Google. To learn which of the Facebook and Instagram ads lead people to install the app, the app includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK. Outside the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, it tells Meta Platforms when the app is installed and opened, together with your device's advertising ID, your IP address and basic device information (such as the device model, Android version, language, time zone and mobile carrier), and it may tell Meta that a purchase of Vorb PDF Pro was made. It never sends your files, their names or anything about your documents, and you do not need a Facebook account. Meta receives this data with its Limited Data Use option, which applies where US state privacy laws require it. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland the Meta SDK is never started. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in Android's settings. For any Google ads of ours, Google uses the Google Analytics for Firebase data described above (for example that the app was opened for the first time). Learn more in Meta's Privacy Policy.
Permissions
- Internet: for language files, online conversion, ads and the measurements above.
- Notifications (optional): to show the progress of a long task or online conversion and tell you when it is done.
- Background service: to keep an online conversion going while you use another app. It shows a notification while it runs.
- Storage, on Android 9 only: to save new files into your Documents and Pictures folders.
Vorb PDF never asks for the camera, your location, contacts, photos or access to all your files. A file reaches the app only when you pick it, share it to Vorb PDF or open it with Vorb PDF.
Sharing
We do not sell your information. We share it only with the service providers named above (Google, Cloudflare and Meta), for the purposes described, or when the law requires it.
Children
Vorb PDF is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date above.
Contact
Questions about this policy: apps@vorb.id
This policy covers the Vorb PDF Android app. For this website, see our website privacy policy.