PDF Redaction privacy policy

For the PDF Redaction macOS app · Last updated 20 May 2026

1. Introduction

This policy explains how PDF Redaction handles your data. PDF Redaction is a macOS application published by Whiteforge Technologies Ltd (“Whiteforge”, “we”), a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17224707). It opens, redacts, and saves PDF files.

This policy is for the PDF Redaction app. The whiteforgetech.co.uk website has its own privacy policy.

2. Data the app processes locally

PDF Redaction processes the documents you open with it. While a document is open, the app holds in memory:

• The contents of the PDF file you opened, including all text, images, fonts, and metadata that the file contains.
• Rendered preview images of each page, used to display the document and its thumbnails.
• The redaction rectangles you have drawn, including their coordinates and the page they apply to.
• Search terms you type into the “Find” panel, and the locations of matches in the document, while the search panel is open.

All of the above stays on your device. None of it is transmitted off the device.

3. Data Whiteforge receives

None. PDF Redaction does not send your documents, redactions, search terms, or telemetry to Whiteforge. There are no Whiteforge servers in the data path. The app does not contain analytics SDKs, advertising SDKs, or third-party tracking libraries. The optional auto-update check (described below) goes directly to GitHub — Whiteforge does not see those requests.

4. Network activity

By default, PDF Redaction makes no outbound network connections. The auto-updater is off out of the box. If you never visit Settings, the app never touches the network.

In Settings → Updates, you can enable two things:

• “Check for updates automatically on launch” — off by default. If you turn it on, PDF Redaction makes a single HTTPS request per app launch to https://github.com/whiten1968/PDFRedaction-downloads/releases/latest/download/latest.json. This is a static text file describing the current latest release. If a newer version is available, the app offers to download and install it; the download itself is also an HTTPS request to GitHub.
• “Check for updates now” — a manual button. Makes the same request, once, only when you click it.

The requests contain no PDF content, no document filenames, no redaction data, no search terms, no usage statistics, no user identifier, and no telemetry of any kind. They are ordinary HTTPS GETs identical to any user requesting that URL in a browser. The only data GitHub receives is your IP address (visible to any server you connect to) and the fact that something is requesting the PDF Redaction update manifest.

You can revoke consent at any time by turning “Check for updates automatically” off. Settings preferences are stored locally on your device only.

5. Where data is stored

• The PDF file you open — remains where you opened it from. PDF Redaction does not copy your input files into its own storage.
• Redactions you draw and search state — held in memory while the document is open. When you close the document or quit the app, this state is discarded. PDF Redaction does not auto-save your in-progress redactions to disk.
• The output PDF — only created when you choose “Save” or “Save copy” and pick a destination. PDF Redaction writes to the location you specify and nowhere else.

6. Temporary files

To apply redactions, PDF Redaction’s engine writes the input document and a JSON description of the redactions to short-lived temporary files in your user account’s temporary directory (typically /var/folders/.../T/). These files are created at save time, read once by the engine, and deleted before the save call returns. They are not written to iCloud Drive, are not synced anywhere, and are not retained.

7. Crash reports and diagnostics

PDF Redaction does not collect or transmit crash reports, performance metrics, or diagnostic data. macOS itself may collect crash logs at the operating-system level and offer to share them with developers; that behaviour is controlled by your macOS privacy settings (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), not by PDF Redaction.

8. Deletion

• Closing a document — drops the in-memory state for that document, including any redactions you had not yet saved.
• Quitting the app — drops all in-memory state.
• Uninstalling PDF Redaction — remove the PDF Redaction.app bundle from Applications. The app does not install components elsewhere on the system. Move the app to the Trash and empty it, and everything PDF Redaction touched is gone.

The documents you opened, and the output PDFs you saved, are unaffected by uninstalling the app — they live where you put them.

9. Children

PDF Redaction is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Your rights

If you are in the UK or the EU, you have rights under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR — including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, and the right to lodge a complaint. Because PDF Redaction does not transmit your data to us, these rights are effectively under your direct control through the app and the file system on your device. If you have a question about your data in PDF Redaction, email us at the address below.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top. Material changes will be summarised at the top of the policy for a reasonable period.

12. Contact

For privacy questions about PDF Redaction:

Whiteforge Technologies Ltd
support@whiteforgetech.co.uk