Washoku.Guide Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 1, 2016

This is the Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) for “Washoku.Guide”, a media channel for Japanese food and culture (“Washoku.Guide”), operated by Cookpad Inc., which has its registered office at 4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (“Cookpad”). It covers information Cookpad collects from users and visitors of our official website providing Washoku.Guide (“Site”). When we use the terms "we", "us" or "our" we refer to Cookpad and "Our Group" means entities controlling, controlled by or under common control with Cookpad. By accessing our Site, you are agreeing to the collection, use, disclosure and other handling of your information as described below.

What does this Privacy Policy cover?

We process certain information about you when you use Washoku.Guide. Some of that information may enable you to be identifiable (“Personal Information”).
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store and use your Personal Information when you visit or use our Site. It also describes the types of Personal Information we collect, how we use this Personal Information to ensure we provide relevant and timely services to you, and to improve your experience of Washoku.Guide.

What Personal Information do we collect from you?

1. Information you submit to us

The type of Personal Information we may collect from you depends on the activity you choose to undertake on our Site.

If you visit our Site without registration:

You do not need to submit or register information if you only view the contents on our Site without registering with Washoku.Guide. We may still collect certain technical information about you (see below) which we might be able to link to you if you then choose to register with us.

If you register with us:

If you register with Washoku.Guide to receive additional functionality, you will become a “Registered User”. When you register as a Registered User, we will collect your name , email address and password.

If you post inquiries or comments:

If you participate in any interactive features of Washoku.Guide, such as posting inquiries or comments, we will process and collect those inquiries or comments. If you include any Personal Information in any of your inquiries or comments, this will also be collected by us.

If you contact us:

We will collect your name, phone number, e-mail address, and any other Personal Information you provide to us in the course of communicating with us.

Please note that if, when requested, you omit to provide us data marked as compulsory, this could make it impossible for us to provide you the Washoku.Guide or to comply with your request under the agreed conditions.

2. Automatically collected information

Technical and Statistical Information:

We also collect some technical and statistical information (the “Technical and Statistical Information”) from you, about your use of our Site, including:

The Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer or device to the Internet;
Your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform (as applicable to the device you are using);
Information about your visit, the path that you take through and from our Site (including date and time); pages that you viewed or searched for; page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page; and

This Technical and Statistical Information is typically anonymous but may identify you in certain circumstances.
Where it does identify you, for example – where it is linked to you as a Registered User - we treat it as Personal Information.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to provide, support and improve Washoku.Guide and each of the uses outlined and described in this section of our policy. To switch off cookies, you need to change your browser settings. For further information about how to do this please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org/. Please note that if you choose to switch off cookies on your device that will mean certain functions of our Site cannot operate properly and the usability of the Washoku.Guide will be affected. Read our Cookie Policy to learn more.

How do we use information collected from you?

We use the Personal Information we collect from you in the following ways:

1. To provide, develop, maintain, tailor and improve the Washoku.Guide and any other services that we operate.

For example, we might use your Personal Information to: - Verify your identity. - Facilitate the access and amendment of registration information. - Customise the contents on the Site in order to provide a more suitable, enriching and improved user experience for you. - Transmit notices relating to the Washoku.Guide and deliver prizes and products to you.

2. To conduct analysis and marketing activity.

For example, we might use your Personal Information to: - Count how many people in a certain geographical area are using the Site. We will typically do this on an aggregated and anonymised basis. - View your use of the Washoku.Guide either individually or as part of a group, to see how you use them in order to understand Washoku.Guide better. We will typically anonymise any output of this process. - Select survey participants for user interviews conducted by us or other trusted partners. - Provide advertisers, information providers and service providers with information on what types of advertisements, information and Washoku.Guide can or should be displayed or provided to you.　

3. To protect you, us and others.

For example, we might use your Personal Information to:

Promote safety and security on Washoku.Guide to protect you.
Deny use of the Washoku.Guide to previous Registered Users who have: (a) not made prompt payment; (b) caused damage to Cookpad, other users or third parties; or (c) breached our terms of use (“Terms of Use”) or used Washoku.Guide in a fraudulent or improper way.
Protect our Group against threats such as fraud or cyber-attacks.

4. To conduct direct marketing and promote the Washoku.Guide.

For example, we might use your Personal Information to:

Contact you from time to time with material that we think may be of interest to you, unless you ask us not to.
Advertise or promote new functions, events or news by sending notifications or e-mail newsletters to you.

Except for notices and communications about the operation of your account, you may opt-out of emails from us at any time by contacting us (see below). We will not provide your email address to any third parties for marketing purposes.

5. To communicate with you.

We may use your contact details to communicate with you.

Who do we share your Personal Information with?

We share your Personal Information within Our Group to provide you with the Washoku.Guide, information or other opportunities. Learn more about Our Group here. We may share your Personal Information with following trusted partners and agents only if they need such information to perform their specific obligations, and we require them to do so based on our instructions and in compliance with this Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

The trusted partners, suppliers, sub-contractors and agents who cooperate with us to provide you with Washoku.Guide and advertising.
The trusted partners, suppliers, sub-contractors and agents who cooperate with us to provide the Site, or in collecting, storing or processing your information for us.
Advertisers and advertising networks that require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to you and others. We do not disclose information about identifiable individuals to our advertisers, but we may provide them with aggregate information about our users (for example, we may inform them that 500 men aged under 30 have clicked on their advertisement on any given day). We may also use such aggregate information to help advertisers reach the kind of audience they want to target. We may make use of the Personal Information we have collected from you to enable us to comply with our advertisers' wishes by displaying their advertisement to that target audience.
Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site.
Other trusted third parties, but only with your prior consent.

We may also share your Personal Information with other organisations or individuals when we have a good-faith belief that it is reasonably necessary, for example:
If all or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its users will be one of the transferred assets.
To meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.
To enforce applicable legal terms and conditions or our other legal rights, including investigation of potential violations.
To detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
To protect against or prevent harm to the rights, property or safety of Our Group, our users or the public as required or permitted by law.

Where is your Personal Information stored and processed?

We will process and store your Personal Information in the locations in which Our Group operates, and in the location of our servers. We comply with applicable laws in respect of the international transfer of Personal Information.

Can you access the Personal Information we hold about you?

You have the right to access any Personal Information we hold about you. If you would like to request a copy of the information we hold about you, please see the ‘How to Contact us’ section below.

How long do we keep your Personal Information?

We will not keep your Personal Information longer than reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use or as prescribed by law.

How will we notify you of changes to this Privacy Policy?

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any Privacy Policy changes on our Site.

How to contact us

If you wish to access, correct, remove, or prevent processing of any of your Personal Information, please send your requests, or any questions about this Privacy Policy, to:

[email protected]

We will do our best to respond promptly and comply with your requests. In some cases, we may not be able to process your request, for example, if it is technically impractical, risks the privacy of others, or causes a disproportionate burden on us.