Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Fudoki Japan ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and use our services (the "Service").

Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site.

This Privacy Policy forms part of, and is incorporated into, our Terms of Service. The disclaimers of warranties, the limitation of liability, and the indemnity in the Terms of Service apply to this Privacy Policy and to everything described in it, in addition to Section 16 below.

This policy describes our practices as they stand on the date shown above. It is a description of how we handle information — it is not a warranty, guarantee, or a promise of any particular outcome, and, except where applicable data-protection law requires otherwise, it does not create rights or obligations beyond those the law itself imposes.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Register for an account with an email address and password. We store your email address, the display name you provide, and a cryptographic hash of your password. We do not store your password in a readable form.
• Sign in with Google. If you choose Google sign-in, Google provides us with your name, email address, and profile picture URL. We do not receive your Google password, and we do not request access to your Gmail, contacts, calendar, or any other Google data. The access tokens Google issues during sign-in are discarded once you are signed in — we do not retain them and cannot use them to reach your Google account afterwards. Your use of Google sign-in is also governed by Google's own terms and privacy policy, over which we have no control.
• Subscribe to Premium. Payment details are entered on Stripe's own checkout pages, not ours. We store only the customer and subscription identifiers Stripe returns to us, plus your resulting plan status (free or premium). Stripe processes your payment data as an independent controller under its own privacy policy.
• Contact us via our contact form. We collect the name, email address, topic, and message you submit. This is delivered to our support inbox by email so we can reply.
• Subscribe to our newsletter. We store the email address you enter and the date you subscribed. It is used to send you the newsletter, and we do not sell it or disclose it to third parties for their own marketing. You can unsubscribe at any time; we then stop sending and keep only an unsubscribed marker so a later data import cannot accidentally re-add you.

You are responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the information you submit, and for having the right to submit any information about another person. Providing false, misleading, or third-party information without authorisation is a breach of our Terms of Service.

2.2 Information Created by Using the Service

If you save a spot to your list, we store the association between your account and that spot, together with the date you saved it, so your list is available when you sign back in. You can remove any saved spot at any time from your list or from the spot's page.

2.3 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, our hosting provider and the analytics and advertising services described in Section 4 automatically receive certain information about your device, including:

• IP address and browser type
• Operating system and device information
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website addresses
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies

We do not maintain our own application-level record of the pages an individual visitor reads. Our hosting and security provider does generate operational and security logs (for example, request and error logs used to keep the site running and to defend against attacks), which it processes under its own retention policies and which we do not use to build profiles of individual readers.

Our sign-up, password-reset, contact, and newsletter forms are rate-limited: to stop them being abused for spam or for guessing which email addresses have accounts here, we count recent submissions per visitor. That counter is stored against an irreversible cryptographic hash of your IP address rather than the address itself, it holds nothing about what you submitted, and it is deleted automatically once the counting period has passed.

2.4 Precise Location

Our interactive map includes an optional "show my location" button. It works only if your browser asks for your permission and you grant it. Your coordinates are used inside your browser to centre the map; they are not transmitted to our servers and not retained by us. You can decline, or revoke the permission later in your browser settings, and the rest of the map still works. Third-party map-tile and browser geolocation providers operate under their own policies.

2.5 Information We Ask You Not to Send

We do not request, and have no need for, sensitive or special-category information — such as health data, government identification numbers, financial account numbers, precise biometric data, or information about your race, religion, political opinions, trade-union membership, or sexual orientation. Please do not include such information in contact-form messages, display names, or any other free-text field. If you send it to us anyway, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, you consent to our handling of it for the purpose of responding to you, and we may delete it without acting on it.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain our services
• Create and authenticate your account, and verify your email address
• Process your transactions and manage subscriptions
• Send you service emails you have asked for or that are required to run your account — email verification, password resets, and billing notices from Stripe
• Respond to your comments, questions, and customer service requests
• Display and remember your saved spots
• Analyze usage patterns and optimize our content
• Show advertising, as described in Section 4
• Detect, prevent, investigate, and address technical issues, security incidents, abuse, or fraudulent activity
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, and enforce our Terms of Service
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from public authorities

Our newsletter is strictly opt-in: we send it only to addresses submitted through the signup form, and every issue includes an unsubscribe link. We do not send marketing email to account holders who have not subscribed, and we never subscribe you to the newsletter automatically — creating an account and joining the newsletter are separate, independent choices. Service and transactional emails required to operate your account, and notices about material changes to these policies, are not marketing and are sent regardless of newsletter status.

3.1 Legal Bases for Processing

Where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation applies to you, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract — creating and running your account, providing saved spots, and delivering the Premium subscription you have purchased.
• Consent — analytics and advertising cookies, and newsletter subscription. You may withdraw consent at any time (Section 6); withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before withdrawal.
• Legitimate interests — keeping the Service secure and available, preventing abuse and fraud, rate-limiting our forms, understanding aggregate usage, and establishing or defending legal claims. We balance these interests against your rights and interests.
• Legal obligation — tax, accounting, and records-keeping requirements, and responding to valid legal process.

4. Advertising and Analytics

Our pages load scripts from the following third parties, which set their own cookies or similar identifiers and receive your IP address and browsing activity on this site:

• Google AdSense. We use Google AdSense to display ads. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ad Settings, and opt out of third-party vendor cookies at aboutads.info/choices. See also how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• Google Analytics (GA4). Used to understand which pages are read and how people navigate the site. You can opt out with Google's browser add-on.
• Pinterest. Our "Save" buttons load a script from Pinterest, which allows Pinterest to see that you loaded a page containing one.
• Map tiles (OpenFreeMap) and images (Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, Cloudflare R2). Loading a map or a photo sends a request — including your IP address — to the service hosting it.

These services determine their own purposes and means of processing and act under their own privacy policies, which we neither control nor monitor. We are not responsible or liable for their practices, for the content or behaviour of the advertisements they serve, or for any change they make to how they handle data. Where the law makes us jointly responsible with such a provider, our responsibility is limited to the part of the processing that we actually determine and carry out. The list above reflects the providers in use on the date of this policy and may change as we add or remove services.

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not trade or rent it to third parties for their own independent marketing. We may share your information with:

• Service Providers: Third-party vendors who perform services on our behalf — Stripe (payment processing and subscription billing), Cloudflare (website hosting, database, and file storage), Resend (delivery of account and contact-form email), and Google (sign-in, analytics, and advertising)
• Legal Requirements: When we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, regulation, legal process, or a governmental request, or is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users or the public
• Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation, insolvency, or sale of assets, in which case your information may be among the assets transferred
• With Your Consent: When you have given us explicit permission

A note for US residents. Some US state privacy laws define "sale" and "sharing" broadly enough to include the use of third-party advertising and analytics cookies for cross-context behavioural advertising, even where no money changes hands. To that extent, our use of the advertising services in Section 4 may be treated as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information under those laws. You can limit this using the opt-out links in Section 4, your browser settings, or an opt-out preference signal (Section 15). See Section 11.2.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies for two purposes. Essential cookies keep you signed in and are required for accounts, saved spots, and Premium access to work. Analytics and advertising cookies are set by the third parties listed in Section 4.

If you are visiting from the EU, the EEA, or the UK, we ask for your permission before any analytics or advertising cookies are set, and the scripts that set them are not loaded unless you agree. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the Cookie Settings link in the footer of every page.

You can also instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent, and you can use the opt-out links in Section 4 to limit advertising and analytics cookies specifically. Opt-out mechanisms operated by third parties are provided and maintained by those third parties; we cannot guarantee that they work, remain available, or continue to be honoured. If you block or delete essential cookies, you will not be able to sign in or use account features, and we are not responsible for any loss of access that results.

7. Administrator Access to Account Information

Our site administrators have access to a list of registered accounts, limited to: name, email address, subscription plan (free or premium), email verification status, and the date an account was created.

This access exists to confirm that an account exists and to verify its status — for example, to assist with a support request, to investigate abuse or fraud, or to comply with a legal obligation. We do not collect any additional personal information beyond what is described in Section 2, and this account list is not used for marketing, behavioural profiling, or advertising. It is not sold or disclosed to third parties except as described in Section 5.

8. Data Retention

We keep your account information, including your saved spots, for as long as your account exists. You can delete your account yourself at any time from your account page, without asking us first. Doing so removes your account, your saved spots, your sign-in details, and any outstanding verification or password-reset tokens from our live database, and cancels any Premium subscription so that you are not billed again. If you would rather we did it for you, use the contact form and we will.

Deletion from our live database does not immediately erase copies held in routine encrypted backups, in system logs, or in the systems of the third-party providers listed in Section 5. Backup copies are overwritten on our provider's ordinary backup cycle and are not used to restore deleted accounts. We may also retain information for as long as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent abuse or fraud, and enforce our agreements.

Email verification and password-reset tokens expire automatically and are deleted once used. Records that Stripe holds for billing and tax purposes, and messages you have sent us by email, are retained under Stripe's policy and our own records-keeping obligations respectively. Newsletter addresses are kept while you are subscribed; if you would like yours removed entirely rather than marked unsubscribed, ask via the contact form and we will delete it.

9. Data Security

We implement technical and organizational security measures that we consider appropriate to the risk, including transport encryption, hashed password storage, and reliance on established infrastructure and payment providers. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure.

Accordingly, and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law: we do not warrant or guarantee the security of any information you transmit to or store on the Service, and you transmit it at your own risk. We are not liable for unauthorised access to, interception of, alteration of, or loss of your information that results from causes outside our reasonable control — including attacks on or failures of our hosting, payment, email, or other third-party providers, vulnerabilities in software we did not write, the acts of hackers or other third parties, or events of force majeure.

You are responsible for keeping your password confidential, for using a password you do not reuse elsewhere, for securing the devices and email account you use to access the Service, and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us promptly through the contact form if you believe your account has been compromised. We are not responsible for losses arising from your failure to do so.

All payment information is processed through Stripe. Card details are entered on Stripe's pages and never reach our servers, so we do not store credit card information at all. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify you and the competent supervisory authority to the extent and within the timeframes that applicable law requires — that notification is the full extent of our obligation in this respect.

10. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request access to your personal information
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing your information
• Data Portability: Request transfer of your information to another service
• Objection: Object to our processing of your information
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent at any time
• Complain: Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

Deletion you can carry out yourself, immediately, from your account page — see Section 8. To exercise any of the other rights, please contact us using the contact information below. We will respond within the period required by the law that applies to you.

These rights are not absolute. Before acting on a request we may need to take reasonable steps to verify your identity, and we may decline a request where we are unable to verify it, where the law provides an exemption, where acting on it would adversely affect the rights of others, or where we are required or permitted to retain the information (for example for tax, accounting, security, or the establishment or defence of legal claims). Where applicable law allows, we may charge a reasonable fee for, or refuse to act on, requests that are manifestly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Exercising your rights may make parts of the Service unavailable to you, and we are not liable for that loss of functionality.

11. Region-Specific Information

11.1 EEA and UK

Fudoki Japan is the controller of the personal data described in this policy, and can be reached through the contact details in Section 19. The legal bases on which we rely are set out in Section 3.1. Where we transfer personal data outside the EEA or the UK, we rely on the recipient's own transfer mechanisms — such as adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses in our providers' data processing terms — as described in Section 14. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement.

11.2 United States

If you are a resident of California or another US state with a comprehensive privacy law, you may have rights to know, access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of your personal information, to opt out of "sale" or "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising, and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. The categories of information we collect, the purposes for which we use them, and the parties with whom we disclose them are described in Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5. We do not knowingly collect or process sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics. To exercise a right, use the contact details in Section 19; to opt out of advertising cookies, use the mechanisms in Sections 4, 6, and 15. An authorised agent may submit a request on your behalf with proof of authorisation, and we may still verify your identity directly.

11.3 Japan

Where the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) applies, we handle personal information within the scope of the purposes of use stated in Section 3, and will not use it beyond those purposes without your consent except as permitted by law. Requests for disclosure, correction, suspension of use, or deletion may be made through the contact details in Section 19, and we may verify that the request comes from the person concerned or an authorised representative before responding.

12. Third-Party Links and Services

Our website contains links to third-party websites and services, and displays advertisements served by third parties. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, availability, privacy practices, security, or terms of any third-party site or service, including any site you reach from an advertisement. Visiting them is at your own risk and subject to their policies rather than this one. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing them with any information. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all liability arising from your dealings with, or reliance on, any third party reached through the Service.

13. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to children under 13 years of age (or under the higher minimum age that applies where you live — for example 16 in some EEA countries), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. By creating an account you represent that you meet the applicable minimum age.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete the account and the associated information within a reasonable time. Because we cannot verify the age of visitors, and because we rely on the representation described above, we are not liable for information provided to us by a child in breach of it, and deletion on request is our sole obligation and your sole remedy in that situation.

14. International Data Transfers

Our site runs on a global content delivery network, and the service providers listed in Section 5 operate internationally. Your information may therefore be transferred to, processed in, and maintained on servers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction — including Japan and the United States — where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. Where required, such transfers rely on the safeguards described in Section 11.1. By using our services and submitting information to us, you acknowledge and, where consent is the applicable basis, consent to this transfer. We cannot control, and are not responsible for, the laws of the jurisdictions through which your data travels or the lawful access requests of authorities in those jurisdictions.

15. Do Not Track and Opt-Out Preference Signals

There is no common industry standard for how to respond to a browser "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal, and we do not respond to DNT. We do honour Global Privacy Control (GPC): if your browser sends a GPC signal and you have not made an explicit cookie choice on that browser, we treat it as a refusal of non-essential cookies and do not load the analytics or advertising scripts described in Section 4. If you later choose "Accept all" yourself, that explicit choice applies until you change it again via Cookie Settings in the footer.

Preference signals are browser- and device-specific and are transmitted by software we do not control, so a signal set on one browser does not carry to another, and we cannot guarantee that any given signal reaches us or that third parties honour it independently. You may also use the direct controls in Sections 4 and 6.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, and in addition to the disclaimers and limitations in our Terms of Service, which apply equally here:

• The Service and this policy are provided on an "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind regarding the collection, use, storage, security, or accuracy of information.
• We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, or data, arising out of or relating to the processing of personal information, its loss or unauthorised disclosure, or your use of or inability to use the Service.
• We are not liable for the acts, omissions, security failures, policy changes, or discontinuation of any third-party provider, advertiser, or linked site described in Sections 4, 5, and 12.
• We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages, cyber-attacks, network failures, changes in law, or acts of government.
• Our aggregate liability for all claims relating to this Privacy Policy shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid us for the Service in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) USD 100.

Nothing in this policy excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited — including liability for wilful misconduct or gross negligence, liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and any statutory rights you have as a consumer or data subject that cannot be waived. Where a limitation in this section is held unenforceable, it applies to the fullest extent permitted, and the remainder of this policy stays in force (see Section 18).

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the Service, to the providers we use, or to the law. We will post the updated policy on this page and update the "Last updated" date, and, where a change is material and the law requires it, we will give additional notice such as an email or a prominent notice on the Service. Except where applicable law requires your prior consent, changes take effect when posted, and your continued use of the Service after that constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. You are advised to review this page periodically. We are not obliged to notify you individually of non-material changes.

18. Governing Law, Severability, and Language

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of Japan, without regard to its conflict of law provisions, and any dispute arising out of or relating to it is subject to the jurisdiction provisions of our Terms of Service. This does not deprive you of the protection of any mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, or of your right to bring a claim before, or complain to, the authorities or courts that applicable data protection law entitles you to use.

If any provision of this Privacy Policy is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court or competent authority, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or, if that is not possible, severed. The remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.

This policy is written in English. Any translation is provided for convenience only; if there is any inconsistency between the English version and a translation, the English version prevails to the extent permitted by applicable law.

19. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, or wish to exercise a privacy right, please contact us:

Please include enough detail for us to identify the account or information concerned. We may ask for additional information to verify your identity before we act on a request.