Summary: Your documents stay on your device and — when iCloud Drive is enabled — in your own private iCloud account. Scanning and text recognition run entirely on your device; we never see your files and we run no servers. The free version is supported by ads, and which advertising company serves them depends on your app version: versions up to and including 1.0.8 use Google AdMob; from version 1.0.9 ads are served by Unity LevelPlay (ironSource), mediating Unity Ads and ironSource Ads, and every Google advertising component has been removed from the app (see section 5). Either way, the advertising company collects limited device and ad-interaction data to serve the ads. Upgrading to PDF Scanner Pro removes all ads and the export watermark, and unlocks the full app.
PDF Scanner is developed by MW Supply Limited (“we”). This policy explains what data the app handles, what stays on your device, and what is processed by the limited third-party services we use to offer an optional upgrade and to show ads in the free version. We have no account system and operate no backend — you can use every feature without signing in to us.
This policy covers every version of PDF Scanner that is in use, and those versions do not all behave the same way. Where behaviour differs, the section says which versions it applies to. You can check your version in the app under … → Settings.
The documents you scan or import — the page images, the resulting PDFs, the searchable text recognized from them, any markup, signatures or form entries you add, the copies of pages kept before you enhanced them (described in the next paragraph), and the signatures you save to your signature library for reuse — are stored on your device. When iCloud Drive is enabled on your Apple ID, they are also kept in the app’s iCloud Drive folder (iCloud Drive → PDF Scanner) so they are backed up and available across your devices (see section 3). If iCloud Drive is unavailable, everything stays in the app’s local storage instead. This content never leaves your device or your iCloud account except via a Share action you initiate, and it is removed if you delete the app (local copies) or delete the documents. We have no access to it.
From version 1.0.12, PDF Scanner also keeps a copy of each page as it was before you enhanced it, so that page can be reverted to the original picture later. These copies are handled exactly like your documents: they are stored on your device and, when iCloud Drive is enabled, in the app’s own iCloud Drive folder, where they count toward your iCloud storage. They are hidden from the Files app so they do not clutter your documents, they are never sent to us or to anyone else, and they are removed when you permanently delete the document they belong to. You stay in control of them: in the app under … → Settings you can see how much space they use, turn the copies off so no new ones are kept, or free up the space by deleting the ones already stored. Keeping these copies is free for everyone; from version 1.0.13, reverting a page to one is a PDF Scanner Pro feature (see section 6).
PDF Scanner stores its documents in your personal iCloud Drive using Apple’s iCloud document storage. This keeps your scans in sync across your iPhone and iPad and lets them return after you reinstall the app. The data is held in your own iCloud account — MW Supply Limited has no access to it, and iCloud is governed by Apple’s privacy policy. If you are not signed in to iCloud, your documents simply stay on the device.
The Scan feature uses your device camera, through Apple’s VisionKit document camera, to capture document pages, with edge detection and perspective correction. Optical character recognition (OCR), which makes your scans searchable, runs entirely on your device using Apple’s Vision framework. No image, page, or recognized text is ever sent off your device by PDF Scanner.
The free version of PDF Scanner is supported by ads. Which company serves them depends on your app version, and the two are described separately below because both versions are in use. In every version, upgrading to PDF Scanner Pro removes all ads, and your documents and their contents are never shared with an advertising company or used to target ads.
From version 1.0.9 the ads in the free version are served by Unity LevelPlay — the ironSource mediation platform, which is part of Unity Technologies. LevelPlay chooses between the advertising networks connected to it; today those are Unity Ads and ironSource Ads. Google AdMob is no longer used, and every Google advertising component has been removed from the app — both the Google Mobile Ads SDK and Google’s User Messaging Platform are gone from version 1.0.9 onwards, so no Google advertising code ships in the app or runs on your device.
The free version shows: a banner at the bottom of the screen; an occasional full-screen (interstitial) ad at a natural break, such as closing a document or returning to the app after a while; and an optional rewarded video you can choose to watch to remove the watermark from a single export. The full-screen ads are rate-limited so they cannot appear back to back. Pro members are shown none of these, and the app does not request ads for them.
To serve these ads, Unity and its advertising partners may collect and process information including:
This information is collected and used by Unity and the networks it mediates, not by us. It is handled under Unity’s Game Player and App User Privacy Policy, which also covers ironSource. MW Supply Limited only receives aggregate, non-identifying reports such as the number of ad impressions and estimated revenue.
App Tracking Transparency (versions 1.0.9 and later). iOS asks whether PDF Scanner may track you across other companies’ apps and websites. The app asks once, before the advertising SDK starts, and the answer decides what is sent: if you allow tracking, the advertising identifier may be used and you may see personalized ads; if you choose “Ask App Not to Track,” the advertising identifier is not used and you will see only non-personalized ads. You can use the app fully either way, and Pro members are never asked, because no ads are requested for them.
Consent (EEA, UK & other regions; versions 1.0.9 and later). Unity LevelPlay does not provide a consent dialog of its own, so version 1.0.9 shows no separate ad-consent form. Instead the app derives its privacy signals from your App Tracking Transparency answer, which is the one consent question it does ask you, and applies them to the advertising SDK before it starts. If you allowed tracking, the app signals consent to personalized advertising. If you did anything else — declined, were restricted by device settings, or have not answered — the app signals that consent is not given and that your personal information must not be sold or shared (the GDPR and CCPA/US-privacy signals respectively). That is deliberately stricter than the minimum either regime requires. The app also always signals that it is not directed at children. Any ad-consent choice stored on your device by the Google consent form in an earlier version is cleared automatically and locally when you update.
Removing ads. Upgrading to PDF Scanner Pro removes all banner, interstitial and rewarded ads; while you are a Pro member the app does not request or display ads, and it does not ask you the tracking question.
In these versions the free version of PDF Scanner is supported by ads. It shows banner ads, occasional full-screen (interstitial) ads, and an optional rewarded video you can choose to watch to remove the watermark from a single export. These ads are served by Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK). To serve them, Google may collect and process information including:
This information is collected and used by Google, not by us. It is handled under Google’s Privacy Policy and as described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. MW Supply Limited only receives aggregate, non-identifying reports such as the number of ad impressions and estimated revenue. Your documents and their contents are never shared with Google or used to target ads.
App Tracking Transparency (versions up to 1.0.8). iOS asks whether PDF Scanner may track you across other companies’ apps and websites. If you choose “Ask App Not to Track,” the advertising identifier is not used and you will see only non-personalized ads. You can use the app fully either way.
Consent (EEA, UK & other regions; versions up to 1.0.8). Where required by law, these versions use Google’s User Messaging Platform to ask for your consent before personalized ads are shown, and respect your choice. That form exists only in versions up to 1.0.8; see the 1.0.9 section above for how consent works now.
Removing ads. Upgrading to PDF Scanner Pro removes all banner, interstitial, and rewarded ads; while you are a Pro member the app does not request or display ads.
PDF Scanner Pro is an optional upgrade that removes all ads and the export watermark and unlocks the full app (unlimited pages per document, all enhancement filters, markup, signing, form filling, text recognition and in-document search, the PDF tools, and — from version 1.0.13 — reverting an enhanced page to the copy kept before it was enhanced, as described in section 2). It is available as an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or yearly) or a one-time lifetime purchase. Purchases, billing, renewals, and refunds are handled entirely by Apple through your App Store account — we never see or store your name, your payment-card details, or your Apple ID. To unlock Pro features, the app checks your purchase entitlement directly with the App Store on your device; this check does not identify you to us. You can view, change, or cancel a subscription at any time in the App Store under Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions.
PDF Scanner makes no network requests of its own and has no servers to talk to. The advertising services described in section 5 do make network requests, in the free version only: to Google on versions up to and including 1.0.8, and to Unity and the networks it mediates on versions 1.0.9 and later. Aside from those, the only network activity is the App Store purchase check described in section 6 and Apple’s own iCloud synchronization, which happens at the operating-system level when iCloud Drive is enabled. For a Pro member no advertising request is made at all.
You can share or export documents using the standard iOS Share sheet (for example, to Files, Mail, Messages, or AirDrop). Where a file goes from there is controlled entirely by the destination you pick. PDF Scanner does not transmit your documents anywhere on its own.
The third-party code bundled in PDF Scanner is advertising code, and it changed completely in version 1.0.9.
Versions 1.0.9 and later include the Unity LevelPlay (ironSource) SDK, which serves the banner, interstitial and rewarded ads and mediates Unity Ads and ironSource Ads, together with ironSource’s ad-quality component, which exists to detect ad fraud and invalid traffic. All are governed by Unity’s Game Player and App User Privacy Policy. No Google SDK of any kind is bundled in these versions — the Google Mobile Ads SDK and Google’s User Messaging Platform were both removed from the app in 1.0.9.
Versions up to and including 1.0.8 include two SDKs, both from Google: the Google Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob), which serves the ads, and Google User Messaging Platform, which manages the ad-consent prompt where it is legally required. Both are governed by Google’s Privacy Policy.
In every version, PDF Scanner contains no analytics frameworks and no crash reporting other than Apple’s first-party crash reporting (which is governed by Apple’s privacy policy and only runs if you opted in to Share With App Developers in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements). PDF Scanner Pro members are not shown ads on any version, and the app does not request ads for them.
PDF Scanner does not access your location, microphone or health data. The advertising identifier is used only for ads in the free version, and only if you allow tracking as described in section 5 — that is true of every version, though the company receiving it differs (Google up to 1.0.8, Unity from 1.0.9). A Pro member is never asked and the identifier is not used. The other system features the app uses are optional, are used only when you invoke them, and stay on your device:
PDF Scanner is a general-audience productivity app and is not directed at children. It does not knowingly collect personal information from children, and in every version it tells its advertising provider that the app is not child-directed (the COPPA signal). On versions up to and including 1.0.8 we additionally instructed Google to serve only family-appropriate ads, at a maximum content rating of G. Upgrading to PDF Scanner Pro removes all ads. Either way, the app is not designed for use by children under the age of digital consent without a parent or guardian.
If we change how PDF Scanner handles data, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will also be reflected in the App Store privacy nutrition labels for the affected version of the app.
Questions about this privacy policy can be sent to mwsupplylimited@gmail.com.