Has anyone found a way to disable PDF Spaces in Adobe Acrobat?

[responsible_dlp_2217]

We really don't want anyone uploading documents into PDF Spaces and allowing Adobe to hover up all our organizational data to train their AI. The PDF Spaces tool sounds neat but raises some serious data loss prevention and access control and compliance auditing concerns.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi responsible_dlp_2217,

Thank you for reaching out.

Adobe does not use customer content to train the generative AI models that deliver Acrobat features. Please refer to the following help document for more information: https://adobe.ly/4mLKfKQ. 

There is no default option in Acrobat to turn off the feature. We will check with the team if it can be disabled.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[responsible_dlp_2217]

It seems like a neat idea. For organizations in industries that have regulatory and legal data govername and compliance requirements.

Which governance frameworks or regulatory standards (e.g., HIPAA, GLBA) does Adobe PDF Spaces have support for regulated data?

How is compliance validated and maintained over time?
Can admins or compliance teams of organizations enforce data classification or apply sensitivity labels within PDF Spaces?

Does the platform integrate with enterprise DLP (Data Loss Prevention) or sensitivity labeling tools?
Are there administrative controls to prevent employees from using personal Adobe accounts to store sensitive files? Or to share work fPDF Spaces with personal account?

Can access be restricted to organization-managed accounts only?

What organization-level event logging does PDF Spaces provide?
Does Adobe provide comprehensive audit logs for PDF Space access, edits, and shares?

Is there admin visibility into link resharing behavior, including when external users re-share content shared with them?
Are there retention policies or auto-expiry settings available for shared links?

Can admins enforce organization-wide link expiration rules?
What detection or monitoring exists for sensitive data (e.g., customer financial or health data) uploaded to PDF Spaces?

Can administrators be alerted if such data is shared publicly?
Are there built-in controls for verifying document integrity and maintaining a chain of custody?

Are logs exportable for integration with SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools?

When a file is “deleted” in PDF Spaces, is it removed from all storage tiers immediately or just marked for deletion?

Are deleted files retained in backup snapshots, and if so, what is the typical retention window?

Can administrators trigger a permanent, irreversible purge on demand?

Are configurable retention settings available (e.g., soft-delete vs. hard-delete timeframes)?

How is secure erasure of deleted data ensured (e.g., crypto-erase, overwrite passes)?

Are backups and archives encrypted, and who can access them?

Are deletion events logged, and how long are those logs retained?

In cross-region replication, are deletions propagated to all replicas?

Does Adobe provide a “proof of destruction” or destruction certificate?

How do legal holds or eDiscovery requirements interact with deletion policies?

Can a legal hold override or prevent scheduled purges?

In the event of a breach or compliance incident, is there an admin emergency data-wipe procedure for PDF Spaces?

What SLAs or contractual guarantees does Adobe provide for removal of PDF Spaces user data from backups and archives?

I hope we can disable PDF Spaces on all workstations until we can show our due diligence in ensuring it meets regulatory and legal data governance and compliance requirements.

[responsible_dlp_2217]

I found a workaround. Imperfect, and not what I wanted to do, but effective.

First, I added a registry key via Group Policy to disable Adobe Document Cloud Services in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader, which also disabled PDF Spaces in both pieces of software.
https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/PrefRef/Windows/FeatureLockDown.html#Services-Clo...

Users were still able to access PDF Spaces on acrobat.adobe.com by signing into their Adobe Account. I tried blocking only the specific PDF Spaces URL, but due to the way acrobat.adobe.com does dynamic JavaScript loading of pages, it still loaded PDF Spaces if users visted any other page on acrobat.adobe.com first. Then clicked on PDF Spaces link. The temporary fix was to block the entire subdomain acrobat.adobe.com on our network. Really not what I wanted to do but the only way I cound find to block the wildwest of PDF Spaces.

Users can still access adobe.com, log in to their accounts, and use Adobe Creative Cloud. So I guess this is an ok temporary solution.

PDF Spaces seems super neat for individuals, but enabling it like Adobe did without considering regulated business that have to demonstrate data governance due diligence and follow regulatory and legal requirements ... is problematic.