KernPDF
Privacy Notice
In short: KernPDF runs entirely in your web browser. The articles, pictures and PDFs you work with stay on your device and are never uploaded. There are no accounts, no advertising, no tracking and no analytics.
Who runs KernPDF
KernPDF is a free tool made and run by Jon Coleman as a personal project. You can contact me at support@kernpdf.com.
What happens to your content
When you open a saved web page, paste an article, add pictures or create a PDF, all of the work is done by your own browser on your own device. None of that content is sent to me or stored on any server I run. I can't see what you read, save or create.
If you use Fetch article with a web address, your browser asks that website for the page directly, in the same way it would if you visited it. The request doesn't pass through me. Pictures in an article are also loaded by your browser straight from the websites that host them.
Pictures from other websites
When you paste an article or fetch one by its address, its pictures usually live on other websites, and most websites don't let one page read another site's pictures. So that they can go into your PDF, KernPDF asks kernpdf.com to fetch each of those pictures from its website and hand it back to your browser. Only the picture's web address and the article's web address are sent. The article itself, your choices and your PDF never leave your device, and the pictures aren't kept beyond a short cache. Pictures inside a page you saved yourself are read from your own file instead. You can turn this off in Settings > File.
What is stored on your device
KernPDF remembers a few things in your browser's own storage so the tool works the way you left it. This stays on your device and is never sent to me:
- your theme, colour and layout choices, and your file name pattern;
- the names of any fonts you chose from your computer;
- if you chose a folder to save into, your browser's permission to use that folder;
- a record that you agreed to the Terms of Use and this notice, with the date and the version you agreed to.
You can remove all of this at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser settings. KernPDF doesn't use cookies.
Permissions you can choose to give
- Fonts on your computer. If you choose "Use a font from this computer", your browser asks your permission before KernPDF can see your installed fonts. Font files are read on your device only, to place the font into your PDF.
- A folder to save into. If you choose a folder, your browser asks your permission before KernPDF can save PDFs there. KernPDF only writes the PDFs you save.
You can withdraw these permissions in your browser's site settings.
Other services involved
A small number of outside services are involved in delivering the site. They receive the technical details any website receives when your browser connects to it, such as your IP address, browser type and the time of the request, and they handle those details under their own privacy policies:
- The hosting provider that delivers this website, which may keep short-term logs for security and reliability;
- Google Fonts, which supplies the typeface used in KernPDF's interface;
- jsDelivr, which supplies Mozilla's open-source article-finding script.
I don't receive any personal information from these services, and KernPDF doesn't share anything about you with anyone.
If you choose to support KernPDF
The Support button opens PayPal in a new tab. Supporting KernPDF is optional, and the payment is handled entirely by PayPal under its own privacy policy. I never see or store your card or bank details. PayPal shows me what it shows any payment recipient, such as your name, email address, the amount and any note you add. I use that only to keep a record of the payment and, if you ask, to reply to you. I don't share it with anyone or use it for marketing.
Changes to this notice
If this notice changes, the date at the top will change, and KernPDF will ask you to read and agree to the updated version before you use it again.
Questions
If you have a question or concern about privacy, email support@kernpdf.com. Email sent to that address is delivered to me through Cloudflare's email routing service, which automatically turns away obvious spam before it arrives. I use your message and email address only to reply to you. You can also find information about privacy in Australia from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.