Is it safe to edit your PDFs on websites? What you should check
On any given day you need to merge two PDFs, or compress one to send it, so you search Google for "merge PDF," click the first website that comes up, and drag your file in. Easy. But we rarely stop to think about one thing: if that PDF is your ID, your payslip, a contract, or a medical report… where does that file go when you drop it there? It's worth knowing, because not all websites work the same way.
There are two very different ways to process a PDF
When you use an online PDF tool, one of these two things may be happening behind the scenes:
- It uploads your file to its server. Your document travels across the internet to a computer owned by that company, it's processed there, and they send the result back to you. In other words, your file has left your device and has been (for a while, or longer) on someone else's server. Most big, well-known websites work this way.
- It processes it in your own browser. The PDF is handled inside your own phone or computer, and it isn't sent anywhere. The file never leaves your device.
From the outside the two look identical —you drag, you wait, you download— but what happens to your document underneath is nothing alike.
Why this matters
If the PDF is just a leaflet, it doesn't matter. But very often what we're handling is personal, sensitive documents: your ID, a payslip, an invoice with your details, a contract, records… When those get uploaded to a server, you become dependent on trusting that company: what it does with your file, how long it keeps it, who can access it, and what would happen if they had a security breach. It's not being paranoid; it's common sense with documents that carry your data.
A trick to know which kind of website you're using: right before processing the file, put your phone or computer in airplane mode (no internet). If the tool keeps working and gives you the result, then everything happens on your own device and your file isn't being uploaded anywhere. If it just sits there "loading" forever, then it needed to send it to a server.
What you can do
- For documents with personal data, use tools that clearly state they process in your browser and upload nothing.
- If you use one that does upload the file, avoid sending it sensitive documents, and delete the file from the service if you're given the option.
- Be a little wary of websites that force you to sign up with your email just to do something as simple as merging two PDFs.
Without your files ever leaving your device
Edit your PDFs in your own browser
At MásPDF the whole process —merging, compressing, signing, converting, protecting— happens on your device. Your documents are never uploaded to any server. You can check it yourself with the airplane-mode trick.
See the tools →In the end, it's about taking the same care with your digital documents as with your paper ones: you wouldn't leave your ID lying around just anywhere, so there's no need to upload it to just any server if you can do the same thing without it leaving your pocket.