PRIVACY POLICY

  You are not asked to or required to provide information just to vie our web site. But, when you utilize some of the site’s capabilities including: registering for a newsletter, engaging with us via social media and/or request information from our site we may ask you to provide your contact name, email address, postal address and phone number. Information we may collect automatically as you visit and/or engage with our site:
  1. Your Internet Protocol or IP address.
  2. The type of browser you are using and/or operating system.
  3. The specific web pages you visited prior to visiting our site and the pages you accessed via our site.
  4. Information you have provided as part of the commenting process on our site.
  5. Advertisements that you view and clickthrough, specific links that you have clicked through in our site.
  6. Your bandwidth speed and general information about software programs that have been installed on your computer.
  7. Aggregate information that reflects your clickthrough rates on pages, ads and also viewing of videos on our site.
  8. Server log information aggregated via HTML code or cookies and/or related technologies.
  We are constantly striving to learn more about how our site is utilized and how we can improve your user experience; to that end, we aggregate and analyze data that we collect. We can in some cases use this information to improve your usage of and engagement with our site and to improve how our content is optimized for your needs (text, video, social media interaction).   We in some cases access information about you that is provided to us by third party platforms or vendors including: ad networks, social media sites, databases services, online advertising or marketing companies and ad targeting including: Facebook or Twitter connection via our site, including your user name, demographic information that may include your age, interests, gender, your interaction with ads and viewing information, clickthrough rates, specific and unique identifiers that can encompass mobile device information number that can also indentify your physical information of a mobile device that is governed by the applicable law. Please know that we may also combine information we have generated with information that can be provided by or obtained from third-party sources. This information is used to either improve your user experience with our site and/or to enable us to better target advertising or information we provide you.   If you have signed up for one of our newsletters or attendance for an online event or related service we may send you: the newsletter you requested, e-mail messages and communications that contain content updates or editorial information, information about your subscription account or updates to our service and/or promotional messages that from our advertising or marketing partners.   We can and do in some cases utilize information that we collect to prevent or block illegal activities to protect the rights of our visitors/users and to ensure our Terms and Conditions are addressed.   Windy City Cigars values your overall privacy and shares information about our visitors under strict adherence to our privacy policy; we do in some very limited cases (anonymously in almost all cases) make information available to third parties or other companies, primarily to serve/improve our advertising or to offer you products/services that may fit your needs via a newsletter or online seminar.
  • We in some cases may or do aggregate information with third parties, advertisers or other strategic partners – our intent and focus is to improve the overall content we provide you and/or the advertising that may be presented to you. Again, with the intent of improving your overall user experience with our brand.
  • We can and do employ third party outsourced contractors who work on our web site; in most if not all cases their focus is on optimizing our web site, reviewing site analytics, providing data processing or content development services and/or providing opt-in email campaigns. These third parties/vendors only have access to your information for the sole purpose to provide and perform specific work/services that relate to their assigned activities.
  • If you interact with our site via comments or message boards, social sharing, etc. please note that this information can be read and understood by others; we don’t recommend your providing or conveying personal information that can be understood by others.
  • We may be required by law to share your information to prevent, negate or offset illegal activities that may have occurred as a result of your activities with our site. Additionally, we may have to respond to a subpoena, legal process or other proceedings as required by law, judicial settlements and/or to protect ourselves against legal claims.
  • In general, we will indicate to you how we will share your information when/as you interact with our web site in some meaningful way; i.e. newsletter subscription, request for more information, etc. And, we reserve the right to collect your information in a way that relates to the permission you have given us.
  As we have referenced earlier in this document, some information about you may be collected by using cookies and related third party technologies.
  • A cookie is simply a piece of limited information about you that is stored on a computer for the sole purpose of identifying the browser’s interaction with a web site.
  • Cookies can and used to store information including but not limited to identifiers and user preferences.
  • A web site may set a cookie with your browser, if in fact your browser settings allow this. Please note, your browser only controls permission set by a single web site to access cookie information it has set/given permission to and has no ability to access other cookies set by other web sites.
  • Your cookie settings can and will change based on your usage or interaction with other web sites.
  • You have the ability to modify your browser settings to reject all cookies, accept only specific cookies and/or be notified after your preferences have been made.
  • Many third party Advertising Networks are Members of the National Advertising Initiative (“NAI”). If you wish to opt out of having your information collected by NAI member organizations and/or to understand how these companies are using information they may obtain about you, or, to view their Privacy Policy please clickthrough this link to the NAI web site.
  Our site, business and server account are based in the U.S. If you visit our site from outside the US please know that information you provide us, access to our web site and/or interaction with our site, business processes, any interaction of any type is governed by US law. We cannot guarantee that your privacy and/or data collection issues that are governed by US laws will be consistent to or in agreement with your country of residence laws. By utilizing our site you are conceding to providing us information, consent to collection of same and/or processing of all data or information in accordance with US laws.   We may modify our privacy policy moving forward. If we do, we will note changes in the policy by changing the Effective Date referenced at the bottom of this document and/or we will also contact you via the primary email address you have utilized to register with our web site and reflect these changes in this Privacy Policy document.