Privacy policy
Short version: no ads, no tracking cookies, no selling data. We store only what we need to run sign-in, ratings, quiz votes and the monthly email.
If you just browse
- No account, no cookies set by us, no third-party trackers. No advertising scripts either.
- We count page views with Vercel Web Analytics. It sets no cookies and doesn't follow you across sites. Each view records the page, the referring site, your browser, operating system, device type and rough location (country, region, city). Visits are counted with a short-lived hash of the request that is discarded after 24 hours; your IP address isn't stored with the data. We only see totals.
- Fonts and all page files are served from our own domain, so browsing doesn't contact Google Fonts or similar services.
- Our hosting provider (Vercel) handles each request and briefly processes your IP address and browser details to deliver the page and block attacks. We don't use these to identify you.
- Your light/dark choice is saved in your own browser (local storage) and never sent to us.
- When you open a distro's page, a counter for that distro and day goes up by one. That's all that's stored: no IP address, cookie, browser details or anything else about you. We use the totals to see which distros people look at.
If you sign in
You sign in with GitHub, GitLab or Codeberg. We never see your password. We ask only for read access to your public profile, and store:
- which service you used and its account ID, your username and your avatar link;
- when that account was created, to stop brand-new accounts from flooding ratings;
- your role (user or moderator) and when you first signed in.
A signed, HTTP-only session cookie (ls_session) keeps you signed in. It's needed for sign-in to work, isn't used for tracking, and is cleared when you sign out.
Ratings, reviews and "I use this"
When you rate a distro, mark that you use it or write a review, we store it with your account. Scores are shown as totals and averages. Your rating and review can be removed by you at any time from the distro page; moderators can hide spam or abuse.
The monthly email
If you subscribe, we store your email address, where you signed up (for example the footer) and when. We use it only to send the State of Linux Distros report. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and we delete your address when you unsubscribe or ask us to.
The distro quiz
The quiz runs in your browser. Your answers are kept only in the page's link (so you can share it) and aren't sent to us. If you answer "Did this fit?", we store your vote, the top suggestion, your answers as a short code of digits, and the date. We don't store your IP address, an account or a cookie with it. We use these votes, only as totals, to improve the quiz and to publish figures such as "what people switching from Windows pick".
Suggestions
If you send a suggestion, we store what you wrote, the type of suggestion, the date, your email address if you give one, and your account if you're signed in. Suggestions are private and only used to improve the site. We delete them once handled, or on request.
Why we can use your data
- Sign-in, ratings and reviews: to provide the service you asked for.
- Email: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
- Security logs and abuse prevention: our legitimate interest in keeping the site working and fair.
- Page-view counts: our legitimate interest in knowing which pages people use, so we can improve the site.
Who else handles it
- Vercel, which hosts the site and counts page views.
- Neon, which hosts the database.
- An email delivery service, only for subscribers and only to send the report.
- GitHub, GitLab or Codeberg, only when you choose to sign in with them.
We don't sell, rent or share your data for advertising. Some of these providers are in the United States; where the law requires, transfers are covered by their standard data-protection terms.
How long we keep it
- Account and contributions: until you ask us to delete them.
- Email address: until you unsubscribe.
- Server logs: up to 30 days. Database backups: up to 30 days.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, export or delete your data, or object to how we use it, by emailing privacy@linuxstatistics.com. We reply within 30 days. Deleting your account removes your ratings, reviews and "I use this" marks. If you're in the EU or UK you can also complain to your data protection authority; California and other US state residents have similar rights, and we don't sell or share personal information.
Children
The site isn't aimed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect their data.
Links to other sites
Links to distro websites, data sources, sponsors and affiliates open in a new tab. Those sites have their own privacy policies.
Changes
If this policy changes, we update the date above. Significant changes are announced on the site before they apply.