Do PDFs have the ability to phone home?

Do PDFs have the ability to phone home? That is, can they send any personally identifiable information to an external host (for example, the PDF author's server)? If so, is there a way to disable this in common PDF viewers (Adobe Reader, Mac OS X Preview) without resorting to using a firewall rule?
Asked by: Guest \| Views: 142

Total answers/comments: 2

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Guest [Entry]

"the documents don't, certain applications to open them (e.g. Adobe Reader) do have the capability to phone home (the software maker, not the author of the document, that is). they can be ""silenced"" with outbound firewall rules.

Adobe Reader is also plagued by a variety of security vulnerabilities, that can be triggered by documents and should not be taken lightly."

Guest [Entry]

Try ditching Adobe Reader and using FoxIt Reader. May not remove this problem but is much less bloated piece of software and launches nice and quickly and it's FREE