Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 22, 2026
Cigar Rights of America (“CRA”) is a tax-exempt social welfare organization under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, dedicated to protecting the rights of adult premium cigar consumers, retailers, and manufacturers.
We respect the privacy of our members, subscribers, supporters, and website visitors. This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect, why we use it, when we disclose it, and the choices available to you when using CRA's website and services.
Information we collect
Information you provide. Depending on your interaction with CRA, we may collect your name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, ZIP code, state, business or organization name, membership category, communications preferences, and information you include in correspondence or forms. We may maintain records of membership, donations, orders, renewals, event participation, and other transactions.
CRA Alerts and communications. When you request CRA Alerts, we collect your name, email address, optional ZIP code, consent, and information about where the request originated. An alert request is not a paid membership application and does not itself guarantee immediate enrollment in an email audience.
Contact forms. Information sent through our contact form may include your name, contact details, subject, message, and technical or security information used to prevent abuse, such as an IP address. Do not submit payment card numbers, passwords, or other highly sensitive information through general website forms.
Information collected during website use. We may receive IP addresses, browser and device information, approximate geographic information, page views, referring sites, interactions with site content, and similar usage information through server logs, analytics, and security technologies. We may use cookies and local storage to support website operations, including age confirmation, sessions, and preferences.
How CRA uses information
We use information to administer memberships and benefits; process and document transactions; respond to inquiries; provide requested news and advocacy alerts; communicate about membership, legislation, regulation, litigation, events, and opportunities for participation; maintain retailer and organizational relationships; analyze and improve website content; prevent abuse and unauthorized access; and meet applicable legal and recordkeeping obligations.
We may use aggregated or appropriately de-identified information to understand our audience and the issues that attract interest. Website analytics are not a substitute for CRA's membership records.
Membership, benefits, and retailer listings
CRA uses outside membership and payment service providers to maintain member accounts, process applicable transactions, and deliver member services. Those providers may handle data under their own privacy notices and terms when you use their platforms or embedded forms.
Cigar Insider member benefit. As part of CRA membership, eligible members are automatically enrolled in the Cigar Insider benefit. To arrange enrollment and delivery, CRA provides Cigar Insider or its publisher with the member’s name, email address, and mailing address. Members may opt out of this benefit by contacting CRA at info@cigarrights.org. The publisher receives this information in connection with the membership benefit and may provide its own privacy notice about how it handles information. Other membership benefits may require information reasonably necessary for fulfillment; we will identify material sharing arrangements where appropriate.
Membership card fulfillment. CRA provides members' names and mailing addresses to a third-party fulfillment provider solely to prepare and mail membership cards. The fulfillment provider destroys the fulfillment data after use, in accordance with CRA's current fulfillment practice.
Business information voluntarily submitted for participation in CRA's public retailer directory or other promotional programs may be displayed publicly. Internal retailer research and administration records are not intended for public display.
Email and other communications
CRA uses the contact information entrusted to it to communicate about membership, organizational matters, and issues affecting premium cigar freedom. CRA does not sell member contact lists or provide members’ email and mailing addresses to unrelated third parties for those parties’ independent marketing purposes. This commitment does not prohibit CRA from using service providers acting on our behalf, providing name and mailing address information to our membership-card fulfillment provider, or sharing names, email addresses, and mailing addresses with Cigar Insider for automatic benefit enrollment and delivery as described above. Members may opt out of the Cigar Insider benefit by emailing info@cigarrights.org.
Optional emails include an unsubscribe or preference-management mechanism where appropriate. Unsubscribing from promotional or advocacy communications does not necessarily stop necessary account, transaction, or service notices. You may also contact CRA using the details below.
Analytics, cookies, and tracking choices
CRA uses website analytics services, including Google Analytics and PostHog, to measure traffic, navigation, and content engagement. These providers may receive information about your device, browser, and use of this website and may use cookies or similar technologies. Third-party providers may have their own information practices, including practices involving activity across sites or over time.
CRA's website is configured to honor recognized browser Do Not Track signals in its Google Analytics and PostHog integrations. This does not disable strictly necessary website operations, and independent third-party services may respond differently. You may also control or delete cookies through your browser settings; doing so may affect some features.
CRA does not intentionally send names, email addresses, payment card details, or CRA PAC contribution information to its website analytics events. Session recording and general automatic interaction capture are disabled in CRA's PostHog configuration. Certain limited website interaction measurement may be enabled on public content pages.
Sharing of information
We may share information when reasonably necessary with:
- Website hosting, data storage, security, membership administration, communications, analytics, fulfillment, and payment-service providers acting in connection with CRA services.
- Public officials or advocacy-service providers when you choose to send an advocacy message or participate in an action requiring that disclosure.
- Professional advisers, regulators, courts, or law enforcement when appropriate and legally permitted or required.
- Other recipients you direct CRA to contact or with whom you authorize information sharing.
We may publish summary statistics that do not reasonably identify individuals. We do not publish an individual member's personal contact information merely because that person joins CRA.
CRA PAC contributions
CRA PAC activities are separate from general CRA membership and donations. Political contribution forms may be operated by external providers and are subject to additional privacy notices, eligibility conditions, and reporting obligations. Applicable campaign-finance law may require collection and public reporting of contributor names, addresses, occupations, employers, contribution dates, amounts, or other required information. Review the notices displayed on the contribution form before contributing.
Data security and retention
CRA uses administrative and technical safeguards designed to protect information. No online system is completely secure. CRA retains records for as long as reasonably necessary for membership administration, communications, organizational operations, legal requirements, financial records, security, and legitimate historical purposes. Retention varies according to the type of information, the purpose for which it was collected, and any applicable legal obligation. CRA has not adopted one uniform retention period for every record category; this Policy does not promise a fixed deletion date.
Your choices and privacy requests
You may ask CRA about personal information we maintain about you, request a correction, request deletion where appropriate, or ask to change communications preferences. Depending on your state of residence and applicable law, you may have additional rights to access, correct, delete, obtain a copy of, or restrict certain uses of personal information. CRA will evaluate and respond to requests as required by applicable law and may need to verify your identity before acting. Some information must be retained for legal, financial, membership, or security reasons.
Send requests to info@cigarrights.org with “Privacy Request” in the subject line. CRA will use reasonable efforts to direct your inquiry to the appropriate person.
Age restriction
CRA's website and membership programs are intended for adults 21 years of age or older. CRA does not solicit or accept membership applications from persons under 21. Our online age confirmation is based on visitor affirmation and is not independent age verification.
External services and links
This website may link to separate membership portals, contribution processors, publishers, social networks, government websites, and other third-party sites. Their practices are governed by their own privacy notices. CRA is not responsible for websites it does not operate.
Changes to this Policy
We may revise this Policy as our activities, services, or legal obligations change. The revised version will be posted here with its effective date, and we will provide additional notice when required by applicable law.
Contact CRA
Cigar Rights of America
210 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Email: info@cigarrights.org
Telephone: (800) 460-0729