We are the Masons of California, including our organizations: the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of California, the California Masonic Foundation, the California Masonic Memorial Temple, the California Freemason Magazine, the Henry W. Coil Library & Museum, and the Nob Hill Masonic Center Inc., and our affiliates (collectively “We” or “Our”). This Website Privacy Notice (the “Notice”) describes the types of information we collect from you when you visit our website and how that information is used and shared.
Please read this Notice together with our Terms of Use for accessing our website (the “Site”).
Types of Personal Information We Collect
When you visit our Site, we may collect “Personal Information” which is information that could reasonably be used to identify you, such as:
- Identifiers such as name, address, email address, social security number
- Education information when you apply for scholarships, such as current and intended school of attended, intended major or career
- Sensitive personal information such as racial or ethnic background, Masonic affiliation, or financial information for donations or payments
- Site related information such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer being used, date and time of visit, webpages accessed, and referring webpage
We seek to limit our collection of Personal Information to what is relevant to further our mission and to fulfill your requests. By submitting Personal Information through the Site, you consent to our collection and use of that information for the purposes described in this Notice.
How Your Information Is Collected
In most cases, you voluntarily provide us with your Personal Information when you interact with the Site (e.g., request information, register for events, participate in a survey, apply for a Foundation scholarship, or other similar activities).
We may also automatically collect information through “cookies,” which are small text files placed on your computer by a website you visit that contain information about your activity on that website. You may adjust or disable cookies through your browser settings; however, doing so may affect certain interactive features of our Site. For more information on cookies, please visit https://www.epic.org/privacy/internet/cookies/. Cookies may be used to personalize your online experience at the Site. We may also utilize third parties to place cookies on your browser in order to serve targeted advertising for measurement and analytics purposes. You can decline to have personal information collected via third party tracking technologies by navigating to the settings feature in your browser and declining all third-party cookies or declining third party cookies from specific sites, or, for mobile, limiting ad tracking or resetting the advertiser identifier via the privacy settings on their mobile device. Available third-party opt-out tools include: the Digital Advertising Alliance, and the Network Advertising Initiative.
How Your Information Is Used
We may use your Personal Information for the following reasons:
- Carrying out our organizations’ missions and our operational, business and charitable activities
- Fundraising events, such as processing charitable contributions, acknowledging donations, recordkeeping, recognizing stewardship opportunities, and soliciting further charitable donations
- Managing scholarship applications and administration
- Registering you as a member of a lodge within our Masonic fraternity and identifying you when you log-in to your account
- Facilitating communication among members, including through i-Member
- Responding to your inquiries and requests
- Registering you for events, delivering programs and services, and accepting payments associated with those activities
- Sending you a newsletter or other marketing communications
- Conducting surveys and research and analyzing data to improve our services or customize our communications with you
- Communicating with you
How Your Information is Shared
We may share your Personal Information internally with our officers, members, and other concordant Masonic bodies; on our Site if you attend an event, make a donation, or agree to post a personal testimonial which may include your name, photo, or voice/video recording.
We may share your Personal Information externally with our charitable affiliates and partners, and third-party vendors, when there is a legitimate operational or charitable purpose. We attempt to limit the Personal Information shared to what is reasonable to accomplish our purpose. In the case of a scholarship application, we may share your Personal Information with our charitable partners who facilitate our scholarship programs, your schools, and scholarship trustees in order to evaluate your eligibility and manage our scholarship programs.
If we need to comply with a legal or regulatory requirement, we may also share your Personal Information with government and law enforcement agencies or regulators.
We do not sell any of Personal Information.to third-party organizations.
How Your Information is Stored
Your Personal Information may be stored on internal and external servers and databases. We use, or contract with third parties that use, encryption technology to store and protect bank and credit card payment information. We store your Personal Information for as long as needed to fulfill the particular purpose for which it was collected and to further our mission.
Your Options Regarding Your Personal Information
Submission of your Personal Information is entirely voluntary. If you decline to submit your Personal Information for any reason you may, however, be unable to use certain Site features or receive certain services. If you agree to it, you may receive promotional emails from us or our affiliates. If you do not wish to receive promotional emails or other communications, you may opt out by following the instructions in the email or contacting the Privacy Office by email at privacy@freemason.org or by mail at 1111 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. If you wish to review or verify the Personal Information collected by us, you may request to do so by contacting the Privacy Officer. You may also request a change, update, correction, or deletion of your Personal Information by contacting the Privacy Office.
“Do Not Track” (DNT) Disclosure
If your browser or computer software has an enabled DNT feature that informs us you do not wish to have your Personal Information collected through the Site, we are unable to respond to that request based solely on receiving the signal. For further questions, please contact the Privacy Officer directly at privacy@freemason.org.
Privacy of Minors
We do not regularly collect or use Personal Information about minors. As part of our youth programs and scholarship opportunities, we may collect personal information about minors, with the consent and supervision of their legal guardian. If you are applying for a scholarship or visiting the Site for a similar purpose, you must do so with adult supervision. If you are under 13, please do not submit any Personal Information to us. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a minor under age 13, we will delete that information. If you believe we may have any Personal Information from or about a minor under age 13, please contact us using the contact information below.
Changes to our Notice
We may modify this Notice in the future. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information. The “Last Modified” date at the end of the Notice states when the Notice was last modified.
If you have questions about how we collect and process your Personal Information, please contact privacy@freemason.org or the Privacy Officer at 1111 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
Last Modified: June 2026
