Privacy Of My Documents

[quaerere scientiam]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently using a very old version of Acrobat Pro (old as in Windows 98 vintage) with Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. Yes, it still works, though it does crash once in a while.

I am contemplating getting a more modern version of PDF software in anticipation of migrating to Windows 10 Pro 64 bit in the near future.

I know that you must now purchase a subscription to Acrobat Pro rather than getting the software with a perpetual license, and you must periodically connect to the internet for Adobe to re-verify the validity of your subscription.

I frequently handle legal and medical documents that need to be kept confidential, I would like to know if Adobe has access to my documents while I am connected to the internet and working on those documents? They necessarily are unencrypted during creation and revision/editing so if Adobe can access them, I cannot use the Adobe software. How can I be assured that the confidentiality of my files is maintained with software that has a licensing structure that is subscription based?

Thank you in advance for any insight and supporting documentation you can provide.

[JR Boulay]

Have no fear, the Adobe Creative Cloud software only checks the validity of the Adobe software subscription.
Nothing from Adobe will sniff the documents on your computer.

[try67]

That's not quite true, unfortunately. There were reports of files being saved on local computers where a "backup" copy was also automatically saved to the cloud, often without the user's knowledge or consent. You have to be very careful with the settings of the application if you work on sensitive documents that absolutely must not be uploaded to any cloud-based storage service.

[quaerere scientiam]

Thank you JR_Boulay and try67 for the information.

Is there any kind of policy document online from Adobe stating that Adobe does not keep a copy of nor read user documents?

Some policy document that I could use as proof that I was acting under some assertion from Adobe that the documents would not be visible to anyone other than myself?

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

On behalf of Adobe, unless you explicitly save a PDF file (or any other type of document saved or exported to by Adobe Acrobe) to the Adobe Document Cloud (or some other cloud storage facility) or use the Sign, Send, or Shared Review feature, your document remains on your computer system with one exception. There is a new feature that allows for intelligent AI-based searches that does send a temporary copy of PDF content to Adobe's search engine, but you need to explicitly enable that.

And in terms of any short term (i.e., Sending files, Sign, Shared Reviews) or long term storage on the Adobe Document Cloud or the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe serves strictly as a storage and forwarding medium and does not have access to the files and their content. Your content remains confidential!

The fact that Acrobat DC is a subscription service is irrelevant here. That is strictly associated with how you license the software, not document storage and confidentiality.

[quaerere scientiam]

Thank you for making that clear for me and anyone else with similar concerns.

[tom223937378yvh]

I do not want any of my documents "saved"  on the adobe cloud. Period how do i disable this function  or I cannot use 

adobe.

[PERSONAL INFORMATION REMOVED PER POLICY - THIS IS AN OPEN FORUM, NOT ADOBE SUPPORT, PLEASE DO NOT POST PERSONAL INFORMATION]

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Did you read the answer from June 2020? It's yours to control. It's not much different than paying attention to where you save a document on one's computer. When saving--save to your computer. 

You can turn off the Share for Review feature under your preferences. 

If you are at a company, your IT dept. might be able to block server ports for Acrobat, but they would need to look them up.

[Cynthia23638845bqot]

I am an old timer CPU person from the old fashion modem to AI.  I do not believe Adobe's privacy. If true, then let honest individual work off line! I have older programs Win7 backwards. Paying rent for a screw driver most individuals would be furious. Well paying rent for programs than have been around 20, 30+ years is insane. Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft and Verizon have been insisting on everyone working online because you tech companies think normal, honest people will steall your software. Really. The tech companies own Wall Street, I wonder how? By charging rent on tools and stolen personal information or P.I.!

[Abambo]

Well, old timer CPU. If you are talking about Acrobat, you can still buy a perpetual licence of Acrobat.

https://www.adobe.com/products/catalog.html#category=pdf