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Privacy

What happens to your file

• It is written to a scratch directory made for that one conversion, on our own server. The directory is deleted when the job ends — on success, on failure and on timeout alike.
• The Word document and its previews are held in memory only, for 30 minutes, so you can download them. Restarting the server erases them. Apart from files you choose to let us keep (below), there is no store of documents and no backup of them.
• Conversion runs entirely on our server. No third-party service sees your document, and nothing you upload is used to train anything.

If you choose to help us improve

Under the upload area is a box, unticked unless you tick it: Keep this file to help improve conversions. If you tick it, we keep a copy of the PDF you uploaded — that file only, not the converted result — for up to six months. It is used only to test and improve the converter, kept by Essex Software on its own server and test computers, never shared with anyone, and not used to train any AI model. We do not store your name, email, IP address or the file's name with it — only the time it arrived and its size.

To have a kept file deleted sooner, email support@essexsoftware.com with the date and time you uploaded it. If you do not tick the box, everything above applies: your file is gone within 24 hours.

What we record

For each conversion we keep one line of numbers, so we can run the service and see where it does badly:

• when it ran, how long each step took, and whether it succeeded;
• the file's size and page count, and which conversion path it took;
• measured properties of the PDF: whether it has a text layer, how many characters, embedded fonts and images it holds, whether it uses right-to-left or CJK scripts, and how much of it is mathematics — numbers and yes-or-no answers;
• the label on your access code, if you used one;
• if you followed one of our own links here, the campaign tag in that link (such as "bing" or "guide") — it names our link, not you;
• if you answer our question about pricing, your answer and any comment you type, with the time — not who you are.

We never record your document's text, its file name, or anything else from inside it. These numbers are kept for 90 days, then deleted.

Logs

• Our web server keeps standard access logs — your IP address, the time, and the address you asked for (a conversion's address is a random identifier, not your file's name) — for 14 days.
• If a conversion fails, our log keeps the type of error and where in our code it happened, never text from your document.
• To keep one visitor from overloading the service, we count requests per IP address, in memory only and for no longer than a day. That count is never written to disk.

Sensitive documents

People convert tax forms, I-9s and medical records, and the design above exists because of that. But we hold no SOC 2, HIPAA or FedRAMP certification and sign no Business Associate Agreement. If your organisation requires one of those to process a document, please do not upload it here.