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Privacy Statement for Red Hat, Inc.

Privacy Statement Table of Contents

Scope of This Notice

This Privacy Statement is intended to describe Red Hat's privacy practices and provide information about the choices you have regarding the ways in which information collected by Red Hat is used and disclosed.

Please note that our co-branded websites (websites where Red Hat has presented content together with one or more of our business partners) may be governed by additional or different privacy provisions.

Our Commitment to Privacy

At Red Hat, your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy, we have provided this Statement explaining our information practices and the choices you can make about the way your personal information is collected, used and disclosed. To make this Statement easy to find, we have made it available on our homepage and at every location where personally-identifiable information may be requested.

Red Hat has self-certified its adherence to the European Union "Safe Harbor" Principles with the United States Department of Commerce, and has chosen to cooperate with the European Union Data Protection Authorities for unresolved privacy complaints.

The Information We Collect

This Privacy Statement applies to all information collected by or submitted to Red Hat, including personal information. "Personal information" is data that reasonably can be used to identify or describe an individual.

Red Hat collects personal information when:

  • you create a user account to become a member of redhat.com or Red Hat Network;
  • you make online purchases;
  • you register products online;
  • you request support for a Red Hat product;
  • you register for webcasts;
  • you request information or materials (e.g., whitepapers);
  • you participate in surveys and evaluations;
  • you participate in promotions, contests or giveaways;
  • you submit questions or comments to us.

Red Hat also collects personal information from individuals (with their consent) at conventions, trade shows and expositions.

The types of personal information collected may include (but are not limited to):

  • your first and last name;
  • your title and your company's name;
  • your home, billing, or other physical address (including street name, name of a city or town, state/province);
  • your e-mail address;
  • your telephone number;
  • any other identifier that permits Red Hat to make physical or online contact with you;
  • any information that Red Hat collects online from you and maintains in association with your account, such as:
  • your Red Hat username,
  • your Red Hat password,
  • your credit card account information.

Using Your Personal Information

Red Hat uses the personal information you provide to:

  • create and maintain your accounts;
  • process, fulfill, and follow-up on your orders;
  • register your products;
  • answer your questions;
  • register you in programs (per your request);
  • send you information;
  • send you surveys.

We also use this personal information to provide you with information related to your account and the products or services you purchased from us, to better understand your needs and interests, to improve our service, and to personalize communications.

Sharing Your Personal Information

Unless you assent, Red Hat will never share the personal information you provide to us except as described below.

Red Hat may disclose your personal information to third parties under any of the following circumstances:

  • As may be required to fulfill orders, to conduct billing/credit card processing, to provide service, and for e-mail housing (as a consequence of uses already described in this Privacy Statement).
  • As required by law (such as responding to a valid subpoena, warrant, audit, or agency action, or to prevent fraud). For research activities, including the production of statistical reports (such aggregated information is used to describe our services to current and prospective partners and other third parties, and is not used to contact the subjects of the report).
  • In the context of a business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, consolidation, or divestiture (pursuant to a pledge of confidentiality under which the recipient agrees to use the information for no purpose other than carrying out the transaction).

Your Choices About Receiving E-Mail

Red Hat makes every effort to provide you with the ability to opt-in and opt-out of receiving communications from Red Hat and/or its partners.

Red Hat may send you e-mail about your account, about the products you have purchased, to remind you about a webcast for which you have registered or a service you have purchased, or in response to your questions. Red Hat may also send you e-mail with information and/or special offers about products and services that may be of interest to you, unless you indicate that you do not want to receive them. In addition, with your assent, our business partners may send you such information.

You may let us know whether or not you would like to receive information, special offers, and promotional materials from Red Hat or our business partners when you create a redhat.com account, when you register for a service, when you provide us with your personal information, or when we send you e-mail. Please note that if you choose not to accept promotional e-mails, you may not receive special offers that may be of value to you.

Red Hat will provide you with the opportunity to opt-out of any of our direct marketing communications at any time. All promotional e-mail sent from Red Hat will contain a provision allowing you the option to decline receiving future promotional e-mail. You may unsubscribe to an e-mail communication by contacting Red Hat at either of the addresses provided below and requesting that you be unsubscribed from that specific communication:

  • Web: Feedback form
  • Regular mail: Newsletters @ Red Hat, 1801 Varsity Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606

For your protection, Red Hat may contact you in the event that we find an issue with a product or service you have purchased that requires your immediate attention.

Cookies and Other Browser Information

Our website automatically captures IP addresses. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server, to administer our website, and to help ensure the security of your interaction with the website. Your IP address is used to help identify you and your shopping cart.

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, Red Hat uses cookies to store and sometimes track information about you. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. All sections of redhat.com where you are prompted to log in or that are customizable require your browser to accept cookies. Find out more about precisely how we use cookies.

If you do not want your personal information to be stored by cookies, you can configure your browser so that it always rejects these cookies or asks you each time if you accept them or not. However, you must understand that the use of cookies may be necessary to provide certain products or services, and choosing to reject cookies will reduce the performance and functionality of the site. Your browser documentation includes precise instructions explaining how to define the acceptance of cookies.

Our Commitment to Data Security

Red Hat trains its employees on our privacy policy guidelines and makes our privacy policy available to our business partners. Our website uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, which encrypts your personal information when you send your personal information on our website. In addition, Red Hat and its business partners enter into confidentiality agreements which require that care and precautions be taken to prevent loss, misuse, or disclosure of your personal information.

Public Forums Reminder

This site often makes chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information. Exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. Although we value individual ideas and encourage free expression, Red Hat reserves the right to take necessary action to preserve the forum's integrity, such as removing any posting that is vulgar or inappropriate.

Our Commitment to Children's Online Privacy

Out of special concern for children's privacy, Red Hat does not knowingly accept online personal information from children under the age of 13. Red Hat does not knowingly allow children under the age of 13 to become registered members of our sites, or buy products and services on our sites. Red Hat does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information about children under 13.

In the event that Red Hat ever decides to expand its intended site audience to include children under the age of 13, those specific web pages will, in accordance with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), be clearly identified and provide an explicit privacy notice addressed to children under 13. In addition, Red Hat will provide an appropriate mechanism to obtain parental approval, allow parents to subsequently make changes to or request removal of their children's personal information, and provide access to any other information as required by law.

About Links to Other Sites

This site contains links to other sites. Red Hat does not control the information collection of sites that can be reached through links from redhat.com. If you have questions about the data collection procedures of linked sites, please contact those companies directly.

How to Access, Modify or Update Your Information

Red Hat gives you the ability to access, modify or update your information at any time. You may log in and make changes to your login information (change your password), your contact information, your general preferences and your personalization settings. If necessary, you may also contact us and describe the changes you want made to the information you have previously provided.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about any of these practices or Red Hat's use of your personal information, please feel free to contact us by web, or by mail at:

Red Hat, Inc.
Legal Affairs
1801 Varsity Drive
Raleigh, NC 27606

Red Hat will work with you to resolve any concerns you may have about this Statement.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

Red Hat reserves the right to change this policy from time to time. If we do make changes, the revised Privacy Statement will be posted on this site. A notice will be posted on our homepage for 30 days whenever this privacy statement is changed in a material way.

This Privacy Statement was last amended on July 7, 2005.