Privacy Policy

The short version: we never store your files. Most 18Docs tools run entirely in your browser, so your files never leave your device. The few tools that must use our servers process your file in memory, encrypt it in transit and at rest, and permanently delete everything within about an hour — we never read, log, sell, or share it.

1. How your files are processed

18Docs tools fall into three categories, and we are explicit about which applies on every tool page:

• In-browser tools (merge, split, rotate, watermark, image conversions, sign, and most others): your file is processed locally in your browser using JavaScript. It is never uploaded to us. We never receive it.
• Server tools (e.g. Office conversions, OCR, compression, PDF/A): your file is sent to our servers over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed, and the input and output are automatically and permanently deleted within ~1 hour. Files are encrypted at rest and never logged or shared.
• AI tools(summarize, translate, compare, chat, data extraction, and similar): the document's text — not the raw file — is extracted in your browser and sent to a third-party AI processing provider to generate the result. The raw file stays on your device, and we do not store the extracted text ourselves. That provider processes the text under its own terms of service and privacy policy, which are outside our control; we do not control, and cannot guarantee or be responsible for, how that provider handles, retains, or uses data it processes, including whether it uses submitted content to train its own models. We do not use your content to train any model of our own. Because we cannot control a third-party provider's practices, please do not submit confidential, sensitive, or personal information to AI tools — using them is at your own discretion.

2. Accounts

If you create an account, we store your email address and a securely hashed password (we never store your password in plain text). If you have a paid plan, we store your plan, credit balance, and billing records. You can change your password or delete your account at any time from your account page; deleting your account removes your personal data.

3. Cookies

We use a single essential cookie to keep you signed in. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

4. What we never do

• We never store your files beyond the brief processing window above.
• We never sell or rent your data to anyone.
• We never use your documents to train our own AI models. Text sent to our third-party AI processing provider (see Section 1) is handled under that provider's own policies, which are outside our control.
• We never log file contents or the personal data inside them.

5. Your rights

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account data, and you can export your data. We aim to honour applicable data protection rights (including India's DPDP Act and the GDPR where relevant). Contact us to exercise these rights.

6. Contact

Questions about privacy? Email [email protected].