The short version
- Your PDFs are opened, edited and saved on your computer. They're never uploaded to us or anyone else.
- OtterPDF has no analytics, ads or tracking, and we never sell your information.
- Your settings and saved signatures stay in your Chrome profile.
- The only time OtterPDF goes online by itself is to check your Pro license with our payment provider, and that check never includes your documents.
- You can delete everything OtterPDF stores by removing the extension.
Your documents stay on your device
OtterPDF opens, displays, edits and saves PDFs entirely inside Chrome on your computer. Your documents, the text you type, your signatures and your redactions are processed by code that ships inside the extension. They're never sent to EspinalLab or to anyone else, and they're never used for advertising or to train AI models.
What OtterPDF stores on your device
OtterPDF uses Chrome's extension storage to remember a few things between sessions:
| What | Why | How to remove it |
|---|---|---|
| Preferences | Your save behavior, file name ending, date format, default text style, ink color and form options, so you don't have to set them again. | Remove OtterPDF |
| Saved signatures and initials | Images of the signatures and initials you choose to save, so you can reuse them. | OtterPDF Settings → Delete, or Delete all |
| Pro status | Whether you've bought Pro, the purchase date, the email you bought with and when it was last checked, so Pro works right away and offline. | Remove OtterPDF |
| License key | A random key and your license status, kept by our payment provider's code (ExtensionPay) in Chrome sync storage. If Chrome Sync is on, it follows you to your other Chrome browsers. | Remove OtterPDF |
| A PDF's web address, briefly | When you open a PDF from the toolbar button or right-click menu, its address is handed to the editor through Chrome's in-memory session storage. | Deleted as soon as the editor opens it, after 5 minutes at most, and when Chrome closes |
What's inside the PDFs you save
When you save, OtterPDF writes the PDF where you choose, or to your Downloads folder. With Keep edits editable turned on (the default), the saved file also contains a copy of the items you added, such as text, signatures, marks, shapes and images, so OtterPDF can reopen them as editable objects. These are the same items anyone can already see on the page. Redactions, and anything under them, are never stored this way. You can turn the option off in the Save menu or in Settings.
Whiteout isn't redaction. Whiteout and Edit text cover content visually, but the original text stays in the file. To remove private information, use Redact: when you save, the page is rebuilt as an image and everything under the redaction is removed.
When OtterPDF connects to the internet
OtterPDF contains no analytics, advertising or tracking code, and it doesn't send usage statistics or error reports. It connects to the internet only:
- to check your Pro license and the current Pro price with ExtensionPay (extensionpay.com) when you open OtterPDF. The check sends only the random license key, never your documents, and the result is reused for five minutes;
- to open ExtensionPay's checkout or sign-in page when you choose to upgrade or restore a purchase;
- to download a PDF from a web address when you choose to open one (see below).
Opening PDFs from websites
If you choose to open a PDF from a link, Chrome first asks you to allow OtterPDF to access that one website. OtterPDF then downloads that PDF directly from the site into the editor, sending your cookies for that site just as Chrome would if you downloaded the file yourself, so PDFs behind a login can open. OtterPDF doesn't read anything else from the site. You can remove the access at any time in Chrome's extension settings.
OtterPDF Pro and payments
OtterPDF Pro is sold through ExtensionPay, which processes payments with Stripe. You enter your payment details on their checkout pages, and they handle that information under their own privacy policies.
When you buy Pro, ExtensionPay and Stripe share your email address and purchase details, such as the date and amount, with EspinalLab so we can provide your license and help you if you contact support. We never receive or store your full card number. ExtensionPay and Stripe may process purchase information in the United States and other countries.
Chrome permissions
OtterPDF asks for as little access as it can:
| Permission | Why OtterPDF needs it |
|---|---|
| Storage | Keeps your preferences, saved signatures and Pro status on your device. |
| Context menus | Adds “Open PDF in OtterPDF” to the right-click menu for PDF links and PDF pages. |
| Active tab | When you click the OtterPDF button, lets it see the current tab's address so it can offer to open the PDF that tab is showing. |
| Website access (optional) | Never granted at install. Asked for one site at a time, only when you open a PDF from that site or from a file link on your computer. |
| Script on extensionpay.com | ExtensionPay's own code, which tells OtterPDF when your payment has gone through. It runs only on extensionpay.com. |
Keeping and deleting your data
Information on your device stays there until you delete it or remove OtterPDF, which deletes all of it. Purchase records held by ExtensionPay, Stripe and EspinalLab are kept as long as needed to provide your license and to meet legal and tax obligations. To ask what purchase information we hold, or to have it deleted, email support@espinallab.com.
Security
OtterPDF runs only code that ships inside the extension, under a strict Content Security Policy. It never runs JavaScript embedded in PDFs, and links inside PDFs can't open pages. The password for a protected PDF is kept in memory only while that document is open, and is used to protect the copies you save with the same password.
Children
OtterPDF isn't directed to children under 13, and EspinalLab doesn't knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to this policy
If OtterPDF changes how it handles information, we'll update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email support@espinallab.com. OtterPDF is made by EspinalLab, LLC.