Privacy Policy for Refile
Effective date: 4 September 2026
Refile ("the app") is an Android application that converts and processes files on your device. This policy explains what the app does with your information. The short version: it collects nothing, and it cannot send anything anywhere.
No data collection
Refile does not collect, store on our behalf, transmit, sell or share any personal information. There are no user accounts, no sign-in, no advertising, no analytics, no crash reporting and no tracking of any kind.
No network access
The app does not request the Android INTERNET permission. Without it, Android prevents the app from opening any network connection. Your files, the text recognised from them, and everything you type into the app therefore stay on your device — not as a promise about our servers, but as a property of how the app is built. We operate no servers that the app talks to.
Text recognition and barcode scanning use Google ML Kit models that are bundled inside the app and run locally. No model is downloaded and no image is uploaded.
Your files
- Files you choose are read only when a job you started needs them.
- When Android cannot grant the app lasting access to a file you picked, the app makes a private copy inside its own storage so the job can finish. That copy is deleted with the job.
- Results are written to the app's private storage first. They leave that storage only when you save them to Downloads, write them to a folder you choose, or share them through the Android share sheet.
- Temporary working files are deleted as soon as a job finishes, including when it fails or is cancelled.
The app never reads files you have not selected.
Local job history
The app keeps a history of the jobs you have run, in a database on your device. Each entry holds the tool used, the names and sizes of the input files, the options you chose, the status, and a description of the results. This history exists only on your device; it is never transmitted.
You control it:
- Settings → Clear history deletes all finished jobs and their files.
- Any single job can be deleted from the history screen.
- Finished jobs are deleted automatically after a retention period you set (7 days by default; you can also choose to keep them indefinitely).
- Uninstalling the app removes everything it stored.
Settings
Your preferences (theme, dynamic colour, auto-save to Downloads, retention period) are stored locally on the device.
Permissions
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
POST_NOTIFICATIONS | To show the progress of a running job and let you cancel it, and to tell you when it is done. Optional — if you decline, the app still works; you just do not get notifications. |
FOREGROUND_SERVICE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC | So that a conversion can keep running while the app is in the background, as Android requires. |
The app requests no other permissions. It does not access your location, contacts, camera, microphone or call data. Note that some tools can read or edit GPS coordinates stored inside a photo file you selected — that data comes from the file, never from the device's location services, and it stays on the device.
Backups
Android's own backup mechanisms may include the app's settings and history database if you have device backup enabled. That process is operated by Google under Google's terms, not by us.
Children
The app is a general-purpose utility. It collects no data from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the effective date above will be updated and the new version will be published at the same address. Material changes will also be noted in the app's release notes.
Contact
Questions about this policy: birdrock621@gmail.com