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Mainstream OS — Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 20, 2026 Last Updated: April 20, 2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes the data practices of Mainstream OS, a custom Arch Linux-based operating system distribution (hereinafter referred to as "Mainstream OS," "the OS," "the Distribution," or "the Software"). By downloading, installing, or using Mainstream OS, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.

Mainstream OS is built on the Arch Linux framework and is released as free and open-source software. Transparency, user freedom, and respect for privacy are foundational principles of this project.

2. No Telemetry

This Software collects absolutely no telemetry of any kind.

  • No usage statistics are gathered, transmitted, or stored.
  • No crash reports are automatically sent to any server or third party.
  • No system diagnostics, hardware identifiers, or performance metrics are ever transmitted off-device.
  • No background processes exist for the purpose of monitoring, reporting, or profiling user activity.
  • No analytics frameworks, tracking SDKs, or data collection libraries have been included in this Distribution.

Your computing activity remains entirely on your device. Nothing about how you use this Software is ever observed, recorded, or reported by the Distribution or its maintainers.

3. No Personal Information Collected, Stored, or Sold

The Distribution does not collect, store, process, or sell any personal information.

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Full name, username, or any form of identity
  • Email address or any contact information
  • IP addresses or network identifiers
  • Device identifiers, MAC addresses, or hardware fingerprints
  • Location data of any kind
  • Browsing history, application usage, or file access patterns
  • Biometric data
  • Financial or payment information

Because no data is collected, there is nothing to sell, share, license, or transfer to any third party — commercial, governmental, or otherwise. We do not sell your data. We do not have your data.

4. Third-Party Software and Repositories

This Distribution may provide access to third-party package repositories, software, or services (including but not limited to the Arch User Repository (AUR), Pacman mirrors, or optionally installed applications). This Privacy Policy applies solely to the Distribution itself.

Third-party software installed by the user is governed by its own respective privacy policies and licenses. Users are encouraged to review the privacy practices of any software they choose to install.

5. No Age Verification

This Distribution does not implement, enforce, or support age verification of any kind.

We believe age verification requirements are incompatible with the principles of open-source software, user anonymity, and digital privacy. Implementing such mechanisms would require the collection and processing of personal identity data, which directly contradicts the privacy commitments outlined in this policy.

6. Jurisdictional Disclaimer — Age Verification and Mandatory Data Collection Laws

Certain states, provinces, countries, or other jurisdictions have enacted or may enact legislation that requires software providers to implement age verification systems, collect user identity information, or comply with data reporting mandates as a condition of lawful use.

If you are located in a jurisdiction that legally mandates age verification, identity collection, or any form of compulsory data gathering from software providers or their users, you are advised not to use this Software in that jurisdiction.

This Distribution will not alter its core privacy commitments to comply with such mandates. The maintainers of this Distribution do not accept liability for any user's non-compliance with the laws of their local jurisdiction. It is solely the responsibility of the user to determine whether use of this Software is lawful in their region.

By using this Software, you represent that you are not subject to any law or regulation that would require this Distribution to collect personal data, implement age verification, or report user activity to any authority.

7. Open Source and Code Transparency

This Distribution is open source. All source code, build scripts, and configuration files are available for public review. Users, security researchers, and auditors are encouraged to inspect the codebase to independently verify the absence of telemetry, trackers, or data collection mechanisms.

Any contributions to this project that introduce telemetry, tracking, or data collection in any form will not be accepted.

8. Network Activity

The Software may make outbound network connections for legitimate system functions, including:

  • Package manager updates (Pacman/AUR): Connecting to configured mirror servers to download package metadata and software updates. These connections are initiated solely by the user and are standard to all Arch-based systems.
  • DNS resolution: Standard name resolution performed by the system or user-configured resolver.
  • NTP time synchronization: Connecting to time servers to synchronize the system clock.

None of these connections are used to transmit personal information or usage data. Users may configure or disable any of these services at their discretion.

9. Security

Because no personal data is collected or stored by the Distribution, there is no central database of user information that could be breached, leaked, or misused. User data stays on the user's own hardware, subject to the security practices of the user themselves.

Users are responsible for securing their own installations, including disk encryption, firewall configuration, and safe software practices.

10. Changes to This Policy

Any future changes to this Privacy Policy will be published with an updated effective date. Continued use of the Software following the publication of changes constitutes acceptance of those changes. However, the core commitments — no telemetry, no data collection, no age verification — are considered foundational and will not be removed or weakened in future versions of this policy.

11. Contact

For questions, concerns, or to report a potential privacy issue, please open an issue on the official project repository or contact the project maintainers through the designated community channels.

12. Governing Principles

This Privacy Policy is guided by the following principles:

  • Freedom: Users have the right to compute privately and without surveillance.
  • Transparency: Everything about this Distribution is open to public scrutiny.
  • Minimalism: The best data policy is to collect no data at all.
  • Sovereignty: Users own their data. We never touch it.

This Privacy Policy was written for Mainstream OS, a custom Arch Linux-based distribution, and is provided as a good-faith commitment to user privacy. It is not legal advice. Users should consult qualified legal counsel for jurisdiction-specific compliance questions.