Privacy policy for Paperscanner (Android)

Last updated: 2026-11-13 · https://apps.homebear.dev/paperscanner/privacy

Paperscanner is published by Homebear, support@homebear.dev ("we").

In short: Paperscanner is a client for your own Paperless-ngx server. We do not run any server for the app, and the app sends nothing to us. Your documents and account data go only to the Paperless-ngx server you enter and, if you scan over the network, to your scanner.

1. What the app sends, and where

• Your Paperless-ngx server (the address you enter at sign-in). The app sends your user name and password once to obtain an access token (or you enter a token yourself), and then everything you do in the app: documents you upload, scan or edit, searches, metadata changes, and requests to view or download documents. The server is run by you or by whoever gave you access; their privacy terms apply to the data stored there. Connections to servers outside your home network are always encrypted (https).
• Your network scanner (only if you use network scanning). On your local Wi-Fi the app looks for scanners (mDNS/DNS-SD) and asks the scanner you choose for its capabilities, its status and the pages it scanned. This traffic stays inside your local network.
• Google Play services – document scanner. When you scan with the camera, Paperscanner uses Google's ML Kit document scanner, which runs inside Google Play services on your phone. The scanned images are processed on the device and handed to Paperscanner. According to Google, ML Kit sends Google technical diagnostics and usage data (device model, Android version, app package name and version, performance figures, event types such as "scanner started"), encrypted, and does not share it with third parties. It does not send your scanned images. See Google's ML Kit data disclosure: https://developers.google.com/ml-kit/android-data-disclosure
• GitHub (raw.githubusercontent.com) – only if you download an extra OCR language. German and English are included. If you add another language in Settings, the app downloads that language file from the public repository tesseract-ocr/tessdata_fast on GitHub. Like every download, this request reveals your IP address to GitHub; nothing else is sent.

2. What stays on your phone

Your access token (encrypted with the Android Keystore), the server address, a cache of document lists, previews and opened files, the upload queue, your settings (theme, scanner, OCR languages, app lock) and a technical log that is kept in memory only. Logging out removes the account's token, cache and queued uploads. Uninstalling the app removes everything. The app is excluded from Android cloud backup.

3. What we do not do

No user accounts with us, no analytics or advertising SDKs, no advertising ID, no tracking, no sale or sharing of data, no crash reports sent to us. Your password is never stored.

4. Permissions

Internet and network access (to reach your server and scanner), notifications (upload progress and results), foreground service "data sync" (to finish an upload when you leave the app) and biometrics (only for the optional app lock). Paperscanner has no camera permission of its own: camera scanning runs in Google's document scanner.

5. Children

The app is not directed at children.

6. Your rights

Because we do not receive or store your personal data, requests about data on your Paperless-ngx server go to its operator. For questions about this policy contact support@homebear.dev. You also have the right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority.

7. Changes

We will update this page when the app's data handling changes; the date above shows the latest version.