Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal data Docs To Markdown processes, why, on what legal basis, how long it is kept, and the rights you have under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Last updated 10 August 2026
01Who is responsible for your data
This website, docstomarkdown.com, is operated by Docs To Markdown (“we”, “us”, the “Operator”). For the processing described in this policy, Docs To Markdown is the controller within the meaning of Article 4(7) GDPR.
For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact us at contact@docstomarkdown.com. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer, as we are not required to do so under Article 37 GDPR.
02The files you convert
When you upload a document, it is sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to our conversion endpoint, parsed in the server’s working memory, converted to Markdown, and returned to you in the response to that same request. Concretely:
- —The file is never written to disk, never placed in object storage, and never saved to a database.
- —It is not retained after the request ends. The memory holding it is released when the request completes, and no copy remains.
- —Its contents are not read by us, not sold, not shared with third parties, and not used to train machine-learning models.
- —Conversion is fully automated and deterministic. There is no human review and no automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects (Article 22 GDPR).
- —Error logs record only the technical error message and never the contents or the name of your file.
- —We do record the fact of the conversion as an analytics event — see section 04. That event carries the file’s format (for example
pdfordocx) and whether the conversion succeeded or failed, and nothing else about the document. Neither the file name nor any part of the content is included, and the preview panel where your converted text appears is explicitly excluded from analytics capture.
A document you upload may itself contain personal data — yours or other people’s. You choose what to upload and remain responsible for it: in relation to that content you act as the controller, and we process it solely to carry out the conversion you requested. Please do not upload files containing special categories of data (Article 9 GDPR) or other highly sensitive material unless you are satisfied that doing so is lawful for you.
03Data we do process
| Data | Where it comes from | Why |
|---|---|---|
| File content and file name | Your upload | To perform the conversion you requested. Held in memory for the duration of the request only. |
| IP address, browser user agent, requested URL, timestamp, response status | Automatically sent by your browser and recorded by our hosting provider | To deliver the site, keep it secure, detect abuse and denial-of-service attempts, and diagnose errors. |
| Analytics data: a pseudonymous cookie identifier, pages viewed, referring page, approximate location (country/region derived from IP), device, browser and operating system | Google Analytics cookies set in your browser | To understand which pages and converters are used, and how the site performs. |
| Product analytics: a pseudonymous device identifier, pages viewed, buttons and links clicked, and conversion events recording the file format involved and whether the conversion succeeded, failed, or was copied or downloaded | PostHog, loaded from t.docstomarkdown.com | To see which formats and features people actually use, how often conversions fail and why, and to fix and improve the service on that basis. Described in detail in section 04. |
| A dismissal flag for the cookie notice | Stored in your browser's local storage | So the notice is not shown again on every page. It never leaves your device. |
We do not operate user accounts, we do not ask for a name or an email address to use the converter, we do not process payment data, and we do not send marketing communications.
04Product analytics and what we can see
Alongside Google Analytics we use PostHog, a product-analytics tool, to measure how the converter is used. This is the one part of the Service where we can see something about your activity rather than nothing at all, so it is worth being precise about it.
Each of the following actions sends us an event:
| Event | What it tells us |
|---|---|
conversion_started | That a conversion began, and the format of the file — pdf, docx, epub, and so on. |
conversion_completed | That the conversion succeeded, and the file format. |
conversion_failed | That the conversion failed, plus a technical reason code such as file_too_large or network_error. |
markdown_copied | That you copied the Markdown output to your clipboard. The copied text is not sent. |
markdown_downloaded | That you downloaded the Markdown output as a file. The file is generated in your browser and its contents are not sent. |
PostHog additionally records page views and, automatically, the buttons and links you click, together with the device, browser, operating system and approximate location (country or region, derived from your IP address) already described in section 03. It identifies your browser with a pseudonymous identifier stored in a cookie; it does not know who you are, because there are no accounts.
Why we do this. Solely to improve the Service: to see which formats are worth supporting and maintaining, to notice when a converter starts failing and for which format, and to understand which features are used. We do not use this data for advertising, for profiling, or to build a picture of you as an individual, and we do not sell it or share it for anyone else’s purposes.
Analytics requests are sent to t.docstomarkdown.com, a subdomain of this site that forwards them to PostHog. This is a routing arrangement, not a way of hiding the collection from you: the data goes to PostHog either way, and you can switch it off as described in section 07.
05Legal bases for processing
Under Article 6(1) GDPR we rely on the following legal bases:
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Converting the file you upload and returning the result | Article 6(1)(b) — performance of the contract formed when you ask us to convert a document under our Terms of Use. |
| Keeping the service available, secure and free from abuse (server logs, rate and size limits) | Article 6(1)(f) — our legitimate interest in the security and integrity of the service, balanced against your interests. |
| Audience measurement with Google Analytics | Article 6(1)(f) — our legitimate interest in understanding how the site is used so we can improve it. You can opt out at any time; see section 07. |
| Product analytics with PostHog (conversion, copy and download events, page views, interactions) | Article 6(1)(f) — our legitimate interest in knowing which parts of the converter are used and where they fail, so that we can maintain and improve the Service. The data is pseudonymous, contains nothing from your documents, and is not used for advertising or profiling. You can opt out at any time; see section 07. |
| Complying with legal obligations that apply to us | Article 6(1)(c) — compliance with a legal obligation. |
07How to switch analytics off
Google Analytics and PostHog both run on page load. If you would rather not be measured, any of the following works, and none of them affects your ability to use the converter:
- —Install Google’s official Analytics opt-out browser add-on. Note that this add-on covers Google Analytics only, not PostHog.
- —Block or delete cookies for this site in your browser settings, or browse in a private window. Without its cookie, PostHog cannot link your visits together.
- —Use a content blocker or a browser with built-in tracking protection, which will prevent the Google Analytics script from loading at all.
- —To stop PostHog specifically, block requests to
t.docstomarkdown.comin your content blocker. Because that address is a subdomain of this site rather than a well-known tracker domain, standard blocklists may not catch it on their own — we mention this so that you can make the choice knowingly. - —Write to us at contact@docstomarkdown.com to object to this processing under Article 21 GDPR.
08Who else is involved
We do not sell personal data and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing. Data is disclosed only to the service providers below, which act as our processors or, where indicated, as independent controllers, and only to the extent needed to run this site:
| Provider | Role | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel Inc. (United States) and its infrastructure providers | Processor — hosting | Serves the website and runs the conversion function; records request logs. |
| Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC | Analytics provider | Provides Google Analytics and processes the analytics data described above. |
| PostHog, Inc. | Processor — product analytics | Receives and stores the product-analytics events described in section 04, on our instructions and for no purpose of its own. |
We may also disclose data where we are legally required to do so, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
09Transfers outside the EEA
The providers above may process data in the United States. Such transfers take place on the basis of an adequacy decision where the recipient is certified under the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and otherwise on the basis of the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2)(c) GDPR) together with supplementary technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit. You may request more information about these safeguards at the contact address above.
Our PostHog project is hosted in PostHog’s European Union region, so the product-analytics events described in section 04 are stored on servers in the EU.
10How long we keep things
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Uploaded files and their converted output | For the duration of the HTTP request only — typically a few seconds. Nothing is retained afterwards. |
| Hosting and error logs | Kept for a short period for security and troubleshooting, in line with our hosting provider's log retention, and then deleted. |
| Google Analytics data | Retained according to the data-retention setting configured in our Analytics property, and in any event no longer than 14 months. |
| PostHog product-analytics events | Retained according to the data-retention setting configured in our PostHog project, so that we can compare usage across releases, and then deleted. |
11Your rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to:
- —Access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy (Article 15).
- —Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data (Article 16).
- —Erasure of your data (Article 17).
- —Restrict processing in certain circumstances (Article 18).
- —Data portability for data processed by automated means on the basis of consent or contract (Article 20).
- —Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including analytics (Article 21).
- —Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out beforehand (Article 7(3)).
Write to contact@docstomarkdown.com to exercise any of these rights. We will respond within one month, which may be extended by two further months for complex requests (Article 12(3)). Exercising your rights is free of charge.
ph_…_posthog cookie.You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the EU member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or the place of the alleged infringement (Article 77 GDPR). A list of national data protection authorities is published by the European Data Protection Board.
12Security
All traffic is served over TLS. Conversion runs in an isolated, ephemeral server environment with no persistent storage attached, uploads are capped at 4 MB, and access to the deployment is restricted to the Operator. No system is perfectly secure, but we take the technical and organisational measures required by Article 32 GDPR and keep them under review.
13Children
This service is not directed at children. We do not knowingly process the data of anyone under 16 years of age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete anything we hold.
14External links
Our guides and blog link to third-party sites. This policy covers only docstomarkdown.com; once you follow an external link, the privacy policy of that site applies.
15Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service changes or the law requires. The date at the top of the page always reflects the current version. Material changes will be signalled on the site before they take effect.
16Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: contact@docstomarkdown.com. See also our Terms of Use.