How to set a PDF expiry date ?

[mike1964X]

This seems to be a common problem and I cannot find an answer.

I send out a lot of sensitive docs in PDF form that I would like to ensure are not able to be open or read after a certain time.  How do I achieve that ?

I have a subscription to the Document Cloud.

Thanks

[try67]

DRM protection is the only reliable way.

[mike1964X]

Is DRM an inbuilt feature of the product or it a 3rd party tool/product ? If 3rd party can you recommend a product to accomplish this ?

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

DRM (“Digital Rights Management”) is not a built-in tool in Acrobat or Reader. There are (typically very expensive) third party tools for this that most often require an administrative server. That having been said, PDF files using such “protection” may not necessarily be protected or be even readable in non-Adobe PDF viewers.

          - Dov

[mike1964X]

OK thank you - seems crazy to me that this type of thing isn't baked into the basic product.  I certainly don't want to add complexity or hassle for my document recipients.   Ugh !

[Dov Isaacs]

It is impossible to really “bake this into the basic product” since it involves a serious amount of expensive, complex software that is beyond the scope of a desktop product. (Adobe does have a server-based DRM produce, LiveCycle, but it is very expensive and complex to deploy.)

          - Dov

[crispinr2878402]

Expiring PDF documents would be a game-changer for a lot of people in a lot of industries. It is not impossible, just tricky. Spotify, Apple Music, all the streaming services do this.

It would be useful for training companies and anyone else selling intellectual property to be able to grant a license to content that expires and can be renewed. 

[crispinr2878402]

Further evidence of this being possible: if I stop paying for Creative Cloud, it stops working... we would like the same capability... 

[try67]

No one said it can't be done. In fact, it already exists (it's called DRM, see above in this thread), it just costs a lot of money to implement it, the same as it costs a lot of money to do it for a piece of software, or any other type of digital asset.

[360MagneticSolutions]

Dov Isaacs, so you mean to tell me that People have gone to the Moon, sent space probes to Mars, and put a Tesla in orbit of Earth but this is IMPOSSIBLE?

I'm not sure what country you're from, BUT in America, "impossible" doesn't exist. 

[Thom Parker]

There is also this solution:

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/Lite-Document-Security-Description.cfm

[Thom Parker]

While DRM is the only reliable way to do this, there are some low bar solutions that you can use to basically keep honest, or non-developer from using the file past a specific date.

Such as the lite security technique shown on this example PDF:Search Downloads

This sample is behind a subscription site.

[stephent46654884]

Thom, could you provide me some insights or links to information on how to do the "low bar solution" that you mentioned?   Thanks much...   Steve

[Thom Parker]

Here's a page describing the downloadable PDF file that is both a sample of the technique and a tutorial on it.

You have to be a member to gain access to it.  

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/Lite-Document-Security-Description.cfm

[try67]

I recommend no one use this website. See my review of it here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/Acrobat/how-to-prevent-pdf-files-save-locally-or-forward-the-to-anyon...

In short, the protection it offers is easily overcome and it is not clear who (or what) is behind it, that you're giving access to your sensitive files to...