OCR Privacy & Security: Is Online OCR Safe?

Uploading documents to an OCR service raises valid privacy concerns—especially for sensitive files.

Key privacy questions to ask

• How long are files stored?
• Is HTTPS used?
• Are files shared or used for training?

When online OCR is safe

• public documents,
• screenshots,
• non-confidential scans.

When to avoid it

• legal contracts,
• medical records,
• financial statements.

For sensitive data, offline OCR remains the safest option.