PDF expiration and revocable access — control that outlives the send.
With MyPass DRM, distributing a document doesn't end your control of it. Set access to expire on a date or with an entitlement, and revoke it at any time — including for copies already delivered.
The problem: the document is already out there
A normal PDF is a one-way door — once sent, it's the recipient's forever. A password doesn't change that; the password travels with the file. The practical buyer problem isn't preventing delivery, it's this: the document has been distributed, and the organization still wants a say in its future access.
What time-based access changes
- Expiry by date or window. Set access to end with an enrollment, a membership year, a license term, a deal process, or a fixed review period. When the window closes, the materials close with it.
- Revocation on demand. A refund lands, an employee offboards, a partner agreement ends, a wrong file goes out — end access now, not at the next distribution cycle.
- Enforced at the document. Because protected content opens through controlled delivery rather than as a loose file, policy applies wherever the copy ended up — it isn't a request, and there's nothing for the reader to "keep."
- Visible in access records. Every open is recorded, so you can see usage before expiry and confirm silence after it.
Static file vs. password vs. DRM
A static PDF gives you no future control. Password protection controls the first open, then travels with the file to anyone it's forwarded to. Policy-based DRM keeps the decision with you for the document's whole life: access reflects what's true now — current member, current enrollment, current license — not what was true on send day. The full comparison is in our guide to stopping PDF sharing after you hit send.
Where expiration does the heavy lifting
Training and certification providers end access with enrollment and eligibility windows. Associations align libraries with the membership year. Publishers close access when licenses end. Enterprises cut access at offboarding. In connected deployments, your LMS, AMS or platform drives it automatically through the REST API — grant on entitlement, revoke on lapse.
Works as one policy
Expiration combines with recipient watermarking, device authorization, and print and copy controls in a single document policy — deterrence, control and a clean end date together. What DRM can and cannot enforce is stated plainly on our security page.