Cookies Policy

Cookies are small text files that a website can store in your browser to remember information between visits. “Local storage” is a related browser feature that lets a site save small pieces of data on your device. Both are held by your browser, but there is an important difference: cookies are normally sent back to a server with each request, while local storage stays in your browser and is not sent anywhere. This policy explains how pdfcosmos uses each.

pdfcosmos uses a limited set of cookies and similar technologies. Some are strictly necessary to run the site securely and to remember your cookie choices. Others, the analytics and advertising cookies, are optional and are used only if you agree: analytics helps us understand how the site is used, and advertising helps keep pdfcosmos free.

In the EEA, UK, and Switzerland we ask for your consent through a cookie banner before any non-essential (analytics or advertising) cookies are set, and you can change or withdraw your choices at any time. Whatever you choose, your files are never involved. They are processed on your device and are never uploaded.

Separately from cookies, we save a single preference value in your browser’s local storage:

• Theme preference (local storage): your chosen light or dark mode is saved on your device so the site remembers it on your next visit. This is not a cookie, is never sent to us, and is never used to identify or track you.

Here are the standard categories most cookie policies describe, and exactly what pdfcosmos does with each:

We use Google Analytics, a web-analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors find and use pdfcosmos so we can improve it. It sets cookies and processes usage data such as your IP address (truncated/anonymised where the option is available), the pages you view, how you arrived, and your device and browser type.

We use this information in aggregate to see which tools are popular and where the site can be better, not to identify you personally. Analytics cookies are set only after you consent. You can withdraw consent at any time through our cookie settings, and Google also offers a Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

To keep pdfcosmos free, we show third-party ads on some pages. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. These cookies let those vendors show ads and measure how well they perform, including ads based on your browsing (personalised advertising).

Ads appear around the tools, never inside the file-processing area, and advertisers never receive your files. Advertising cookies are set only after you agree. You can opt out of personalised advertising at any time: use our cookie settings, Google’s Ads Settings (adssettings.google.com), or industry tools such as YourAdChoices (aboutads.info) and Your Online Choices (youronlinechoices.eu).

Some of the cookies described above are “third-party” cookies, set by our analytics provider (Google) and our advertising partners (including Google) rather than by pdfcosmos directly. These are only ever placed after you consent, and they are governed by those third parties’ own privacy and cookie policies as well as ours. For how we use the information these cookies collect and the rights you have over it, see our Privacy Policy . The open-source engines that process your files run locally in your browser and set nothing.

Cookies are either “session” cookies, which are deleted when you close your browser, or “persistent” cookies, which remain for a set period. Typical lifetimes are:

You are in control. When required, we ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies, and you can change or withdraw that consent at any time through our cookie settings. Where the law requires, we also treat a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal from your browser as a valid request to opt out of advertising cookies. You can also manage or delete cookies and local storage for any site through your browser’s settings, use private or incognito browsing, and add tracker-blocking extensions.

Blocking analytics and advertising cookies will not stop the PDF tools from working. They run entirely in your browser. To remove your saved theme preference, clear the site data for pdfcosmos in your browser.

We may update this Cookies Policy if our use of cookies or local storage changes (for example, if we work with a new analytics or advertising provider). When cookies or the categories we use change, we will update this page and, where the law requires, ask for your consent again. The “Last updated” date above shows the latest revision.

Questions about cookies or local storage? Email us at [email protected].