abc OCR
Privacy in abc OCR
You want to scan contracts, letters or ID cards, and you want to know where the images go. This page is a short summary. The same text is in the app, in Settings › Privacy.
Check it yourself
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Read the privacy screen in the app. Open Settings › Privacy. It lists what stays on your phone and what is sent.
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See which models are on your phone. Open Settings › Offline languages. Each language that says “Ready offline” is read on your phone.
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Scan in airplane mode. Turn on airplane mode and scan Latin text (English, Spanish, Polish and more). It works.
What stays on your phone
- Text is recognized on your phone.
- Your images and the recognized text are saved only in the app’s private storage. The app does not upload them.
- There is no account and no abc OCR server.
- When you share or save text, it goes only to the app or folder you choose.
- To count free scans and free XLSX, DOCX and PDF saves, the app keeps the date and time of each scan and of the last 3 such saves. It does not keep the text or the image with these dates.
- Optional app lock (Settings › App lock): Android checks your fingerprint, face or screen lock. The app only learns if the check worked. While the lock is on, screenshots are blocked and recent apps show no preview.
What is sent, and to whom
- Google ML Kit (text recognition, the document scanner and text actions) sends Google diagnostic and usage data: device and app information, device and installation identifiers, performance data, settings such as image size, and events such as model downloads and error codes. This data does not include your images or the recognized text. See Google’s ML Kit data disclosure.
- Google Play services downloads the models for Chinese, Devanagari, Japanese and Korean, and the document scanner. Each downloads once. The Latin model is part of the app.
- Google (ML Kit) downloads the model for text actions (the phone number, email, address, date, link, IBAN and tracking number chips on the result screen), about 6 MB, only when you tap Download. It runs on your phone and the text is not sent.
- Google Play handles subscriptions and the lifetime purchase. The app does not see your payment details. It asks Google Play whether you have Premium. The rating prompt is also shown by Google Play.
- Android backup: if backup is on in Android settings, Android can include the app’s data, with your scans, in your Google account backup. You can turn this off in Android settings.
Delete your data
When you delete a scan, you can undo it for a few seconds. Then the app erases the scan, its text and its image from your phone. To erase everything at once, clear the app’s storage in Android settings or uninstall the app.
No ads, no account
abc OCR has no ads and no ad SDKs. It has no analytics SDKs. You do not sign in.