Privacy Policy

Effective: October 17, 2026

This policy explains how the person who runs Yokuasa ("the Service"), called "the Operator" below, handles information about the people who use it. The Operator's name and address are provided without delay on request (see the "Legal notice (Japan)" page). The Operator is based in Japan, and the Service is run under Japanese law.

The short version (a summary; the full policy below is what counts)

• We collect only what we need to run the Service. We do not use advertising or analytics tools.
• We remove location data from your photos on your phone before they are sent, and again on our server.
• Photos, email addresses, and similar data are stored with companies in the United States (Cloudflare, Resend, Stripe). Section 6 explains which, and what protects your data.
• Photos are deleted automatically when the plan's storage period ends. You can ask us to delete or show you your data (section 9).
• A guest's email address (used only for the "your photos are developed" notice) is deleted right after the notice is sent.

1. Who this covers

Guests, hosts, co-hosts, and people who contact us. Under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), the Operator is a "business operator handling personal information".

2. What we collect, why, and for how long

A person's face in a photo can be personal information, so we treat photos as personal information.

Guests

Hosts and co-hosts

Information that keeps the Service safe

People who contact us

We use the content of your message and your email address only to reply. We aim to delete them about 1 year after we finish helping you. (Refund records stay as payment records above.)

3. How we use it

We use information to:

1. Provide the Service: take in photos, store them, develop them, show albums, make ZIP files and story cards.
2. Check logins, prevent abuse, limit repeated attempts.
3. Send emails: login links, login notices, "developed" notices.
4. Handle payments, refunds, and accounting.
5. Answer questions, reports, and rights-infringement notices.
6. Investigate problems, keep the Service safe, and deal with rule violations.
7. Meet legal obligations.
8. Count events by referral and entry point, in aggregate (not to identify anyone; the "origin marks" in section 8).

We do not:

• use photos or information for advertising or promotion;
• use photos or information to train AI;
• send photos or information to outside AI services;
• use advertising or analytics tools;
• send marketing emails (a guest's email address is used only for the one notice).

The Operator does not look at what is in your photos except to (a) review a reported photo, (b) do the minimum needed to investigate a technical problem, or (c) respond to a legal obligation.

4. Location data is removed before photos are sent

• Information such as where a photo was taken (location data) is removed on your phone, when the photo is shrunk and redrawn. Photos never reach us with location data in them.
• As a second check, our server also strips extra metadata from the photo before saving it.
• The Service does not ask for permission to use your location. It asks for camera permission, only to take photos. The live camera image is not sent to us; only the photos you take are.
• What we remove is the metadata attached to a photo. Things that appear in the picture itself, like a sign or a landscape, remain.

5. Who we share information with

We do not share your information with third parties, except:

1. The service providers in section 6, which we use to run the Service.
2. When required by law (a valid request from a court, police, or similar).
3. When needed to protect someone's life, body, or property and getting consent is difficult.
4. In a transfer of the business (the new operator must follow this policy).

Note that after developing, photos and nicknames are visible to the other people in the same event (the host, co-hosts, and guests). That is how the Service works, and it is not sharing with a third party. Hosts should tell participants (Terms of Use, section 4).

6. Service providers, and transfers to other countries

The Service uses three companies. All are based in the United States.

Transfers to other countries (APPI Article 28)

1. Countries: The United States. Cloudflare runs data centers around the world; where your data is stored is chosen automatically and the Operator does not pick a country. Resend lets customers choose a sending region, but says account data is stored in the United States. For Stripe, in some regions an Irish affiliate (Stripe Payments Europe, Limited) is the main party responsible for personal data.
2. US data protection system: The US has no single nationwide privacy law like Japan's APPI. Privacy is governed by sector-specific federal laws and by state laws (for example California). Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission publishes an overview (in Japanese): https://www.ppc.go.jp/enforcement/infoprovision/laws/offshore_report_america/ (it reflects research from 2021–2022, so the rules may have changed since).
3. Protections our providers say they apply:
   • Cloudflare: a data processing agreement (DPA) is part of its terms. It announced Global CBPR and Global PRP privacy certifications in June 2025, and holds ISO 27701 and ISO 27018.
   • Resend: publishes a DPA covering encryption in transit and at rest and access controls. It announced EU-US Data Privacy Framework certification in March 2025.
   • Stripe: publishes a DPA, and says it holds PCI DSS Level 1 certification.
4. We review these public statements when choosing providers. If a provider changes, or a country's system changes significantly, we will update this policy and tell you.
5. By joining an event or logging in, you agree that your personal information is stored with these companies in other countries as described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
6. If you want to know more about the measures a provider takes, contact us (section 11).

7. How we keep information safe

• Connections are encrypted (HTTPS).
• Photos before developing are protected by not issuing any way to view them. In the normal screens, nobody, including the host, can see them.
• Login is only by a one-time link sent by email (no password). The link and the login record are stored as scrambled values. Repeated attempts are limited. You get a notice email at every login.
• Only the Operator can use the admin screens. When reviewing a report, the Operator sees only the reported photo, as a small image.
• Card details never reach the Operator's servers.

8. Cookies and similar storage

• These are needed to run the Service. They are not used for advertising.
• Origin marks are used only to count events by referral and entry point. They contain no name, email address, or other information that identifies a person, and they are not sent to advertising or analytics companies.
• The Service does not include tools that send your device's information to advertising or analytics companies.
• You can clear cookies and site data in your browser. If you do, you may be unable to delete your own photos in an event you joined, and photos waiting to upload may be lost.

9. Your rights: access, correction, deletion

1. You can ask us to show you, correct, stop using, or delete your personal information, or to show you the record of who we shared it with. Email the address in section 11. There is no fee.
2. We need to confirm it is you. Hosts should write from the email address they registered with. Guests take part with just a nickname and a device, so it can be hard for us to verify who you are. Guests can delete the photos they took themselves, in the album.
3. Hosts can delete their account and events on screen. Photos are deleted with them.
4. We may not be able to act on a request if it would harm someone else's rights, or if the law requires us to keep the data (for example payment records). We will tell you why.
5. If you are in the EU, the UK, California, or another place whose law gives you privacy rights, tell us what you are asking for and we will respond according to the law that applies. The Operator is based in Japan and has no office or representative in the EU or UK.
6. You can send complaints about how we handle personal information to the same address.

10. Children

• Hosts must be 18 or older. If you are under 18, you need a parent's or guardian's consent.
• Guests under 16 should join with a parent's or guardian's consent.
• The Service is not meant for children under 13 to use on their own. A parent or guardian should be with them. If we learn we collected information from a child under 13 without a parent's consent, we will delete it.

11. Contact, and changes

1. For questions, requests, and complaints about personal information:
   • Email: support@yokuasa.com
   • The Operator's name and address are provided without delay on request.
2. If a data breach happens, we will notify Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission and the people affected, as the law requires.
3. If we change this policy, we will announce it on the site or by email before it takes effect. For major changes (such as adding providers or new uses), we will ask for your consent again where needed.