Privacy Policy
PDF Scanner · last updated
1. Summary
PDF Scanner (“the app”) is a document scanner and PDF toolbox published by Cool App Helpdesk. It turns paper into PDFs with your camera, extracts text from scans, and offers PDF tools (merge, split, compress, convert, protect, hide text, sign, and more).
- Your scans and documents are processed entirely on your device. Nothing is uploaded to the developer or to any cloud storage.
- No account, no sign-up. The app asks for no camera and no storage permission.
- The app shows no ads before 1 September 2027. From that date it shows a banner and a native ad through Google AdMob (section 5). It contains no analytics or tracking of its own.
- Scanning and text recognition use Google’s on-device ML Kit, which sends Google anonymous diagnostics about how those features perform (section 5) — never your images or text.
2. Data we collect
The developer (Cool App Helpdesk) collects no data. The app has no server, no account system and no analytics, so we never receive your documents, your text or anything about you.
The only data that leaves your device on its own is the ML Kit diagnostics and, from 1 September 2027, the advertising data described in section 5. Both go to Google, not to us.
3. Data stored on your device
Everything you create stays in the app’s private storage on your device. Nothing leaves it unless you choose to share or save a file.
| Item | Where | Sent off device? |
|---|---|---|
| Scans (“My scans” PDFs) | App’s private files folder | Only if you share |
| Camera images during a scan | Processed by the scanner and turned into the PDF | Never |
| Text extracted by OCR, tool results (PDF, Word, text, images) | App’s private cache until you save or share them | Only if you share |
| Signatures you draw | Held in memory while you sign; drawn only into the PDF you save | Never |
| Settings (theme, language, dark mode) | Local DataStore | Android backup only |
If Android backup is on, your settings are included in your own Google backup. Your scans are never sent to cloud backup; they move only during a direct device-to-device transfer when you set up a new phone.
4. Permissions used
| Permission | Reason | When asked |
|---|---|---|
INTERNET + ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Used by Google libraries: ML Kit, and AdMob ads from 1 September 2027 | Auto-granted (normal permission) |
AD_ID + ACCESS_ADSERVICES_* | Let AdMob read the advertising ID and Android’s ad services, from 1 September 2027 only | Auto-granted (normal permission) |
WAKE_LOCK + FOREGROUND_SERVICE | Added by Android/Google libraries for background work | Auto-granted (normal permission) |
The app does not request camera, storage, photos, location, contacts or microphone access. The camera opens inside Google Play services’ document scanner, which holds its own camera access, and the files you import or save are picked by you through Android’s file picker.
5. Network activity and third parties
All scanning, text recognition and PDF processing happen on your device. Your images, documents and recognised text are never uploaded.
Google ML Kit powers the document scanner and text recognition (OCR). It runs inside Google Play services, which may download or update ML Kit models, and sends Google diagnostics and usage metrics: device and app information (model, Android version, app package and version), performance and error data, and non-uniquely identifying installation identifiers. Google uses this to run and improve ML Kit, does not share it with third parties, and encrypts it in transit. It never includes your images or text. See ML Kit data disclosure and Google’s Privacy Policy.
Advertising (Google AdMob). The app includes the Google Mobile Ads SDK. Before 1 September 2027 it is never started: no ads are shown and it sends nothing. From 1 September 2027 the app shows a banner at the bottom of its main screens and one native ad card in the Tools list (never while you scan or read). To serve and measure those ads, AdMob collects and shares with Google: your IP address (and the approximate location derived from it), device and app information, ad interactions (views and taps), diagnostics, and device identifiers: your Android advertising ID and the app set ID. Ads may be personalised where you allow it; you can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of personalised ads, in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads (or Google → Ads). Your documents, images and extracted text are never shared with AdMob. Where the law requires consent (for example in the EEA and UK), you will be asked before ads load. See how Google uses data from apps that use its services.
Apart from ML Kit and AdMob, the app contains no analytics SDKs, no crash-reporting SDKs and no social or attribution SDKs. Other libraries (PdfBox, androidx.pdf, Hilt, Coil) work entirely on-device.
When you share a file through Android’s share sheet, the app hands that file to the app you choose. The developer does not see what you share.
6. Children’s privacy
The app is intended for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
7. Data retention and deletion
Your scans stay on your device until you delete them in the app (My scans → ⋯ → Delete), clear the app’s storage in Android Settings → Apps → PDF Scanner → Storage → Clear storage, or uninstall the app. Uninstalling removes every scan the app holds; copies you saved elsewhere with “Save to device” stay where you put them.
The developer holds no data about you, so there is nothing for us to delete. Data held by Google (ML Kit, AdMob) is governed by Google’s retention rules; you can reset your advertising ID in Android Settings, and the app set ID by clearing the app’s storage or reinstalling it.
8. Security
App data is held in the app’s private storage, protected by Android’s built-in application sandboxing, and is not accessible to other apps. Files are shared only through temporary, read-only links that Android grants to the app you choose. The app is distributed through the Google Play Store, which verifies the developer signing key on every update.
9. Changes to this policy
If any material aspect of how the app handles data ever changes, this page will be updated and the “last updated” date above will be bumped. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.
10. Contact
Questions or feedback? Email coolapphelpdesk@gmail.com.