Craft Beer Institute Privacy Policy

Revised: April 19, 2024

The Craft Beer Institute is committed to protecting the privacy of users of the Cicerone Certification Program website at Cicerone.org (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy sets forth our current privacy practices with regard to the information we collect when you use the Site and how we use and share that information. By accessing the Site, you acknowledge that you fully understand the Craft Beer Institute’s Privacy Policy and consent to the information collection and use practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect or Receive and How We Use It

We collect or receive information about you when you use the Site or otherwise communicate with us. Visitors to the Site can register for an account to view certain content and to purchase services. When you register for an account, we will request your name, e-mail address, physical address, telephone number, company name, and work title, and we will allow you to select a password. We will provide you with the means to ensure that personally identifiable information in your web account file is correct and current. If you are purchasing a service, we will request identifying personal information (name, address, etc.) and financial information in order to complete the transaction. Any financial information we collect is used only to bill you for the services you purchased. When you purchase by credit card, this information may be forwarded to your credit card provider. Credit card numbers are not retained in any form by our systems so you will be asked to re-input this information each time you make a purchase. You may also be asked to disclose personal information to us so that we can provide assistance and information to you. For example, information such as your name and e-mail address may be requested in order to provide technical support and troubleshooting.

We also collect information you voluntarily provide by, for example, providing information in your biography or emailing information to us. We use this information only for the purpose for which it is collected.

When you visit the Site, we may track technical information to administer the Site and analyze its usage. Examples of information we may track include your Internet protocol address, the kind of browser or computer you use, number of links you click on the Site, the date and time of your visit, the name of your Internet service provider, and the web pages you viewed on the Site. We do not use this information to identify you personally.

Sharing of Your Information

You understand and expressly agree that if you take and pass the Certified Beer Server exam, the Certified Cicerone® exam, Advanced Cicerone® exam, and/or the Master Cicerone® exam, we shall have the full right and authority to include your name, city, state and level of certification on the Site roster of persons who have achieved certification under the Cicerone® Certification Program, and you consent to our disclosure of such information to the public either through the database accessible through our website and/or in response to a direct request for verification.

You also acknowledge and expressly agree that if you use an organization-purchased coupon code to register for the Certified Beer Server exam and/or Certified Cicerone® exam, that organization will have access to, and the right to access, all information and results relating to your taking that exam, including any subsequent and personally paid-for exam attempts and regardless of whether you continue to be employed by or have a relationship, affiliation or other connection with that organization.

We do not sell, trade or rent your personal information to others. We will not disclose personally identifiable information we collect from you to third parties without your permission, except to the extent necessary, including to fulfill your requests for services; to respond to legal process or comply with law; to protect the rights, property and safety of the Craft Beer Institute, of users of the Site, and third parties; and to enforce the Site’s Terms of Use.

We may also disclose personal information if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Site; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public (among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions). Further, In the event that Craft Beer Institute or the Site is acquired by or merged with another company, we may transfer information about you to the successor entity.

Review of Personal Information and Opting-Out

You can review the personal information you provide to us and make any desired changes to the information at any time by writing us at: The Craft Beer Institute, 4043 N Ravenswood, Suite 308, Chicago IL 60613, or by calling us directly at (773) 549-4800, or by emailing us info@cicerone.org. Please include your name, address, and/or email address when you contact us.

Opting-out. Even after you have consented to our collection and use of your personal information, you may opt-out of having your personal data collected or used by us by contacting us via one of the methods described above. You also have the right to opt-out of having your personal data disclosed to an independent third party or used for some reason other than why originally collected.

A user may change/correct his/her preferences or personal information at any time online or by contacting us at the above e-mail address or phone number.

If you choose to opt-out of having us use your personal information in any way, that may impair our ability to confirm your certifications.

Your Rights With Respect to Your Information

You may have heard about the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in Europe. GDPR gives people certain rights with respect to their personal information collected by us on the Site. Accordingly, Craft Beer Institute recognizes and will comply with those rights, except as limited by applicable law. The rights under GDPR include:

• Right of Access – This includes your right to access the information we gather about you, and your right to obtain information about the sharing, storage, security and processing of that information.
• Right to Correction – This is your right to request correction of your information.
• Right to Erasure – This is your right to request, subject to certain limitations under applicable law, that your information be erased from our possession (also known as the “Right to be forgotten”). However, if applicable law requires us to comply with your request to delete your information, we will be unable to verify any of your certifications.
• Right to complain – You have the right to make a complaint regarding our handling of your information with the appropriate supervisory authority.
• Right to Restrict Processing – This is your right to request restriction of how and why your information is used or processed.
• Right to Object – This is your right, in certain situations, to object to how or why your personal information is processed.
• Right to Portability – This is your right to receive the personal information we have about you and the right to transmit it to another party.
• Right to not be subject to Automated Decision-Making – This is your right to object and prevent any decision that could have a legal, or similarly significant, effect on you from being made solely based on automated processes. This right is limited, however, if the decision is necessary for performance of any contract between you and us, is allowed by applicable European law, or is based on your explicit consent.

Many of these rights can be exercised by signing in and directly updating your account information. However, if you have questions about exercising these rights, or need assistance, please contact us at info@cicerone.org.

We also do not require or seek any “special categories” of information under GDPR including racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, sexual orientation or health information ,

Retention of Your Information

Except as provided elsewhere in this policy, we retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or as required for necessary business purposes. We permanently keep records of your certifications.

Security of Your Personal Information

We are committed to keeping your personal information safe. We therefore take appropriate and commercially reasonable technical, physical and organizational precautions, taking into account our size and purpose, the sensitivity and volume of information we hold, the size and complexity of our operations, and the cost of available tools, to protect personally identifiable information that we collect. However, no protection method, hardware or software is 100% perfect and information can therefore be lost, even with appropriate protections. You understand and agree that there is no such thing as perfect security and therefore The Craft Beer Institute cannot, and is not, guaranteeing, ensuring or warranting that the information we collect about you or that you transmit to us will never be compromised, and that you are accepting that risk.

You can also help keep your information safe by keeping your login credentials confidential and using a strong password. You should also limit access to your computer, place appropriate security software on your computer and log out and close your browser after accessing your account and other information.

Processors we use

As part of the services we provide, and only to the extent necessary, we may use the following processors to process some or all of your personal information, all of which are located in the United States:
Freshdesk.com (Customer Service)
Authorize.net/Cybersource (Credit Card Gateway)
CardConnect (Credit Card Processor)
SurveyMonkey (Collecting feedback about events and exams)
Google (Our email service provider, as well as using Sheets, Docs, Forms, and other Google products to manage information)
Dropbox (Storage of business documents)
Stamps.com (United States Postal Service Shipping vendor)
UPS (Domestic Shipping vendor )
APC Postal Logistics (International Shipping vendor)
ShipBob.com (Shipping Vendor)
Shipstation.com (Shipping Vendor)
Cookiebot.com (Consent Management Platform)
Credential.net (Digital Credential Issuer)
Proctortrack.com (Online Exam Proctoring)
ProctorFree.com (Online Exam Proctoring)
Brillium.com (Online Exam Proctoring)
Thinkific.com (Learning Management System)

Do Not Track

When you visit a website, your browser automatically shares certain information, such as your IP address and other device information. Such sharing can allow the website and/or content providers to track you over time and across multiple websites. Today, many browsers offer Do Not Track plugins that allow you to express a preference that you not be tracked, and that tell websites that you visit, by sending an electronic beacon, this preference. At this time, our site does not respond to Do Not Track beacons sent by browser plugins.

Cookies

The Craft Beer Institute uses cookies to personalize or enhance your user experience on the Site. A cookie is a small text file that is sent to your browser from a web site’s server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. For example, if you personalize a web page, or navigate within a site, a cookie helps the site to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of delivering relevant content and eases site navigation by providing and saving your preferences and login information as well as providing personalized functionality. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by the web server of the domain that issued the cookie to you.

The Craft Beer Institute does not allow other companies to place cookies on our website.

A web beacon is a small transparent "GIF" image that is embedded in an HTML page or email used to track when the page or email has been viewed. A similar device may be used by which a product, service or functionality may send data to a server when a set of user-initiated events occur (such as after clicking a button on the Website or in an email). This device is similar to a cookie in that it tracks your visit and the data can only be read by the server that receives the data. It is different than a cookie in that it is not browser-based, may not function as an identification card and does not store any data on your computer. We use web beacons for 

Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies and similar devices. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or similar device, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. If you reject cookies by changing your browser settings, this may disable some of the functionality of our Site. To find out more about cookies, including how to see which cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Third Party Advertising

We may use third-party advertising service vendors to serve advertisements on this Site. These vendors may use cookies, web beacons or similar technologies to serve you advertisements tailored to interests you have shown by browsing on other sites you have visited (even if we do not allow the advertiser to place cookies on our Site). In doing so, these vendors may collect non-personal data such as your browser type, your operating system, Web pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, ads viewed, and other clickstream data. The use of cookies, web beacons or similar technologies by these advertising service vendors is subject to their own privacy policies, not ours, and we disclaim all liability in connection therewith. If you do not want the benefits of these advertising cookies, Web beacons or similar technologies, you may be able to opt out by visiting http://www.networkadvertising.org. (This will not prevent you from seeing ads; the ads simply will not be delivered through these targeting methods.)

Age restriction

The Site is intended for use by persons of legal drinking age under the relevant applicable law (for example, 21 in the United States). By using this Site you hereby represent and warrant that you are of legal drinking age under the relevant applicable law. If we discover that you are under the legal drinking age under the relevant applicable law, we reserve the right to block or otherwise prevent your future access to or use of this Site. Further, we do not knowingly collect information regarding anyone under the legal drinking age under the relevant applicable law. If we discover that we have information regarding such a person, we will immediately delete all of the information we have regarding such person.

Location of Site and Data

This Site is operated in the United States. If you are located in the European Union or elsewhere outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you provided to us will be transferred to the United States. By using our Site, participating in any of our services and/or providing us with your information, you consent to this transfer.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

The Craft Beer Institute may update this Privacy Policy from time-to-time. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates.

If you have questions regarding our Privacy Policy, its implementation, failure to adhere to this Privacy Policy and/or our general practices, please contact by writing us at: The Craft Beer Institute, 4043 N Ravenswood, Suite 308, Chicago IL 60613, or by calling us directly at (773) 549-4800, or by emailing us info@cicerone.org. The Craft Beer Institute will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly respond and resolve any problem or question.