Privacy Policy

Vitola Pedia ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website vitolapedia.com (the "Site"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. By using the Site, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Lounge chat messages — If you participate in our live cigar lounge, the messages you post are stored and displayed to other users. We do not require an account; messages are associated with a display name of your choosing.
• Voluntary submissions — Any feedback, cigar corrections, or correspondence you send us via email.

Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data — Pages visited, time on page, referring URLs, browser type, device type, approximate geographic location (country/region level via IP address), and search queries entered on the Site.
• Technical data — IP address, browser language, screen resolution, and operating system.

We do not collect sensitive personal data such as full names, postal addresses, payment card information, or government identifiers. We do not sell products directly; any purchases are made through external retailers.

2. Cookies and Local Storage

We use cookies and browser local storage to improve your experience and analyze traffic. When you first visit the Site, a cookie consent banner is displayed allowing you to accept or decline non-essential cookies.

Essential Storage

• Cookie consent preference — Remembers whether you accepted or declined cookies (stored in localStorage as cookieConsent).
• Site preferences — Filter selections, view mode, and other UI settings that persist across sessions.

Analytics Cookies (only if you accept)

• Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat) used to understand how visitors interact with the Site.

If you decline non-essential cookies, only essential storage is used and analytics scripts are not loaded. You can change your preference at any time by clearing your browser's localStorage for this domain.

3. Third-Party Services

We rely on the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data:

Supabase

We use Supabase as our backend infrastructure to power the live cigar lounge chat feature. Messages you post in the lounge are transmitted to and stored by Supabase. Supabase's privacy policy is available at supabase.com/privacy.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect and analyze usage data such as page views, session duration, and traffic sources. Google Analytics uses cookies to gather this information. Google's privacy policy and data processing terms are available at policies.google.com/privacy. You may opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

External Retailers

Our "Where to Buy" links direct you to external retailers (e.g., Cigars International, Famous Smoke Shop, JR Cigars, Neptune Cigar). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies separately.

4. How We Use Your Information

• To operate, maintain, and improve the Site and its features.
• To display and store lounge chat messages.
• To analyze usage patterns and optimize performance and content.
• To detect and prevent abuse, spam, or fraudulent activity in the lounge.
• To respond to your feedback and inquiries.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share data only with the third-party service providers described above, solely for the purpose of operating the Site. We may disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

6. Data Retention

Lounge chat messages are retained for the lifetime of the Site unless removed for moderation purposes. Analytics data is retained according to Google Analytics' default retention settings. Cookie consent preferences persist in your browser until you clear your local storage.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction (e.g., GDPR in the EU/UK, CCPA in California), you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Erasure — Request deletion of your personal data, including lounge messages you have posted.
• Objection — Object to certain processing of your data.
• Withdraw consent — Withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time.
• Data portability — Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at oryx@kinetiq.xyz.

8. Children's Privacy

The Site is intended for adults of legal tobacco-purchasing age (21+ in the United States). We do not knowingly collect information from individuals under 21. If you believe we have collected data from someone under 21, please contact us so we can delete it.

9. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International Users

The Site is hosted in the United States. If you access the Site from outside the U.S., your data will be transferred to and processed in the U.S., which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence. By using the Site, you consent to this transfer.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page whenever changes are made. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: