Where do signed documents go?

[lazar5E3C]

I have signed a document in Acrobat and it created some sort of link that I can share with other people. I did not intend to do this. There seemed to be no other way to close the dialogue box. So from what I gather, Adobe has saved a copy of that document somewhere on their servers. How can I access this data and, most importantly delete it? I can't even seem to recoup the link if I wanted to. This seems to be like a whole lot of privacy violations, even borderline phishing. 

[try67]

That's odd. Did you convert it to an Adobe Sign form (by ticking the box that says "This document requires signatues" when creating it, for example)?

[lazar5E3C]

I'm using Adobe Reader. I just signed a PDF document using the built-in sign function and then clicked on "next" in the upper right hand corner, and then I had to either create a link or send the document via e-mail. Later I realised that I should have simply saved the document instead of clicking on "Next". I didn't realise that Adobe would store my data on their server if I clicked on "Next". 

[try67]

If it did, then it's probably on your Adobe Document Cloud, which only you have access to.

You can find it here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/

[lazar5E3C]

That's indeed where I eventually found it! However, there was no option to delete. See my reply to myself below for the full explanation. 

[lazar5E3C]

Oops, forgot to say thanks! Thanks!

[lazar5E3C · Accepted solution]

Update: I eventually found that the documents are stored on something called "Document Cloud" (documentcloud.adobe.com). In order to do this, I signed another document (this time a blank page with no sensitive information) and created that link just like last time. It is only by following that link that I discovered the existence of this "Document Cloud". This shouldn't have been so convoluted. It's like Adobe is trying to hide your own documents from you!

However, while my documents were indeed listed there, there was no option to delete. I eventually got in touch with a very helpful support staff person who guided me through the process for deleting signed docs (called "agreements"). For those looking to do the same, here goes:

- open Document Cloud in your browser and sign in

- click on your profile picture in the top right corner and click on "Settings", and then on "edit settings" 

NOTE: I got a "server error" message here while using Chrome. It worked for me with Edge. I don't know about other browsers. 

- on the edit settings screen, go to "Privacy" on the left-hand menu

- then you have to search for the document by typing in an e-mail address that it's associated with. If you created the document, just use your own address (the one that's associated with your Adobe account)

- now you will see the document list. Each document has a little trash/bin icon associated with it. Click on the trash/bin icon. Congratulations, you have submitted a "request" to delete the document. 

Hopefully, I will get a confirmation e-mail to say that the documents have indeed been deleted. 

In conclusion, this was far too much trouble just because I clicked on "Next" after signing a document. Accessing and deleting your own data should not be this buried and complicated to figure out. 

[try67]

It would be helpful if you could take screenshots of the entire process, especially the dialog where you press Next, and post them here...

[lazar5E3C]

Sure, here's screenshots:

1. I created a test document and then used Acrobat's built-in Fill & Sign feature. 

2. Then I instered a checkmark instead of a signature (don't want to post that on here!).

3. Upon pressing "Next", a regular "Save" dialogue box will pop up. No need for a screenshot of that. But once you save your file, you get this:

Notice that the bottom left corner of the pop-up says "Powered by Adobe Sign". For those unfamiliar with the full adobe suite, is unclear if this is a feature or a separate app. But in the end, it doesn't matter because you can see the documents in Document Cloud and you can only delete them by editing the privacy settings of your Adobe account in a browser. 

[try67]

It is a bit vague, I agree. However, if you want a real digital signature you should not be using Fill & Sign, but a signature field.

PS. What you're using there is not Acrobat, but Reader, a free tool that can't create files on its own, or add fields to them (unless a script is used), etc. If you have access to Acrobat then you should use that, instead.

[lazar5E3C]

Yes, I am aware it's Reader. I corrected myself in my first reply to you. I would go back and edit my original post, but there's no option to do that. 

And, yes, I am also aware of the real digital signatures and have that set up. However, in this case I had to sign a document I was sent and it did not have a signature field, so I had to use this method.