qubes-doc/introduction/privacy.md

---
lang: en
layout: doc
permalink: /privacy/
redirect_from:
- /en/privacy/
- /doc/privacy/
- /wiki/privacy/
ref: 243
title: Privacy policy
---

The short version is that we try to respect your privacy as much as possible.
We absolutely do not sell any user data. In fact, we go out of our way to help
you keep your data private from everyone, including us. For example, from the
moment you [install Qubes OS](/doc/installation-guide/), we offer to set up
[Whonix](https://www.whonix.org/) so that all of your updates are routed
through [Tor](https://www.torproject.org/).

## Website

For the legally-required boilerplate, see [Website Privacy
Policy](/website-privacy-policy/).

This is just a static website generated with Jekyll and hosted from GitHub
Pages. We try to use as little JavaScript as possible. We host all resources
locally (no third-party CDNs) so that you only have to connect to one domain.
This site should be easy to browse using Tor Browser and with scripts blocked.
We also have an [onion
service](http://qubesosfasa4zl44o4tws22di6kepyzfeqv3tg4e3ztknltfxqrymdad.onion/)
(access is not logged). We even go out of our way to make it easy to download
[this website's git repo](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubesos.github.io),
including all the website source code, so that you can host this entire site
from your own local machine offline. Better yet, we've specifically written all
of the [documentation](/doc/) in Markdown so that the plain text can be enjoyed
from the comfort of your terminal. Here's the
[repo](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-doc). (By the way, Git tags on our
repos are PGP-signed so you can [verify](/doc/verifying-signatures) the
authenticity of the content.) Obviously, we don't use any ads or trackers, but
this is still a public website, so man-in-the-middle attacks and such are
always a possibility. Please be careful. See [FAQ: Should I trust this
website?](/faq/#should-i-trust-this-website)

## Update Servers and Repositories

We provide repositories at <https://yum.qubes-os.org> and
<https://deb.qubes-os.org>.

We collect and store standard server access and error logs, which include IP
addresses. We use this data for generating [Qubes userbase
statistics](/statistics/) and for incident response.

The data is retained for up to three months so that we can re-calculate the
previous two months' statistics in case anything goes wrong. After that, the
data is deleted. We never sell the data to anyone or share it with any third
party.

If you would like to hide your IP address from us, we strongly encourage it and
are happy to help you do so! Simply choose the Whonix option to route all of
your updates over Tor when [installing Qubes OS](/doc/installation-guide/).

## Onion Services

We provide an [onion
service](http://www.qubesosfasa4zl44o4tws22di6kepyzfeqv3tg4e3ztknltfxqrymdad.onion)
for the website and onion service mirrors of the repositories. Access to these
servers is not logged.

## Mirrors

There are also other third-party mirrors hosted by volunteers. These are used
both for [ISO downloads](/downloads/#mirrors) and
[updates](#update-servers-and-repositories). We have no control over what data
these mirrors collect or with whom they share it. Please see the privacy policy
of each respective mirror operator.

## Qubes OS

We have specifically designed Qubes OS so that it is not possible to collect
any data directly from Qubes OS installations. In other words, Qubes OS does
not have the ability to "phone home" and is intentionally architected to forbid
that from happening. This is mainly because we have ensured that dom0 has no
network access.

We don't want the ability to collect any data directly from Qubes OS
installations, because if anyone has that power, then the system is not secure.
We use Qubes OS ourselves as a daily driver for our work and personal
lives, so our interests are aligned with yours. We want privacy too!
Thankfully, Qubes OS is free and open-source software, so you don't have to
take our word for it.

Of course, third-party software (including other operating systems) running
inside of Qubes OS may not be as privacy-respecting, so please be mindful of
what you install. We have no control over such third-party software.

For more information, please see [FAQ: How does Qubes OS provide
privacy?](/faq/#how-does-qubes-os-provide-privacy)