Privacy Policy

Your data is yours. Shiki is a small content website, and we keep things simple: we collect as little personal information as we can, we're transparent about what we do collect, and we never sell it. This policy explains what information Shiki ("we", "us") gathers when you visit visitshiki.com, why, and the choices you have.

Who we are

Shiki is an independent publisher of seasonal travel guides to Japan, operated by its owner, who is the data controller for the information described here. The site is hosted on Vercel, whose servers process standard technical request data (such as your IP address and browser type) to deliver and secure the pages. For any privacy question or request, use the contact details at the end of this page.

Information we collect

Your account. You can read everything on Shiki without an account. Account sign-in has not launched yet — so today we hold no account data at all. Once it's available, if you choose to create an account — to save guides, keep preferences or use other signed-in features — we will collect your email address, your sign-in credentials (your password will be stored only in securely hashed form, never as plain text; if you sign in with a third-party provider such as Google, we receive your email and basic profile details from them instead), and the content you save to your account. Accounts and this data will be stored with Supabase, our authentication and database provider.

Information you give us. If you use our contact form you provide your name, email address and your message. If you sign up for our monthly letter, you provide your email address. Form submissions are processed by Web3Forms, a third-party form service that delivers them to us, and the mailing list itself may be managed through a dedicated email service provider (such as MailerLite), which stores subscriber addresses and handles sending and unsubscribes on our behalf.

Information collected automatically. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which articles are useful and how the site performs. With your consent (see "Cookies" below), it sets cookies and collects aggregated usage data — for example pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and how you arrived at the site. We use this in aggregate and do not use it to personally identify you. Google processes this data as described in Google's Privacy Policy.

How we use your information

We use the information above only to:

• operate your account and the features it unlocks, such as saved guides and preferences;
• reply to messages you send us;
• send our monthly letter, if you signed up for it;
• understand, in aggregate, what's useful so we can improve the guides;
• keep the site secure and working.

Where European data-protection law (GDPR) applies, we rely on: contract — to run your account and features you've asked for; consent — for analytics cookies and the monthly letter, which you can withdraw at any time; and legitimate interests — to answer your messages and keep the site secure.

How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We only pass it to the service providers listed below that operate the site on our behalf, and we may disclose information if required by law or to prevent fraud or abuse.

Cookies

We use a small number of cookies and similar browser storage: strictly necessary items that remember your choices (and, once account sign-in launches, keep you signed in), and optional analytics cookies that are controlled by the consent banner. Our Cookie Policy lists each one, what it does, how long it lasts, and how to change your mind — the site works fully without the optional ones.

Advertising

We do not show ads and set no advertising cookies. The site is supported by affiliate links instead — see below.

Affiliate links

Some of our guides contain affiliate links to travel booking services, such as Klook. If you book something through one of these links, Shiki earns a small commission at no extra cost to you — it's one of the ways the site pays for itself, and articles that contain such links say so at the top. Clicking one takes you to the partner's own website, where their privacy and cookie policies apply; the partner may use cookies on their site to attribute your booking to us. We never share your personal information with affiliate partners, and the links themselves set nothing in your browser on this site.

Third-party services

We rely on a small number of providers, each governed by its own privacy policy:

• Vercel — website hosting and delivery.
• Supabase — account sign-in (authentication) and account data storage, once accounts launch.
• Google Analytics — anonymous, aggregated usage analytics (only with your consent where required).
• Web3Forms — processing contact and sign-up form submissions.
• Email service provider (such as MailerLite) — storing the mailing list and sending the monthly letter.
• Google Fonts — fonts loaded from Google's servers, which may receive your IP address.
• Unsplash — article photography served from the Unsplash image CDN.
• GeoJS — a one-off location lookup used only to decide which cookie-consent rules apply to your visit.
• Klook — travel activity bookings via affiliate links; involved only if you click through to their site.

International data transfers

Several of these providers (including Google, Vercel, Supabase and Web3Forms) are based in the United States, so your data may be processed there. Where data is transferred out of the EEA or UK, these providers rely on safeguards such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses to protect it.

How we protect your information

All traffic to the site is encrypted (HTTPS); once accounts launch, passwords will be stored only as secure hashes and account data will live with established providers that maintain their own security programmes. No website can promise perfect security, but we deliberately keep the amount of personal data we hold small.

Data retention

Once accounts launch, account data will be kept for as long as your account exists and deleted when you delete your account. Messages and newsletter sign-ups are kept only as long as needed to respond to you or run the monthly letter, and are deleted on request. Aggregated analytics data is retained according to Google Analytics' standard retention settings.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you have the right to be informed about, access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal data, and to request a copy of it. You can also:

• delete your account, if you have one, which removes the personal data stored with it — or ask us to do it for you;
• decline or opt out of analytics using the cookie banner (see the Cookie Policy to change an earlier choice);
• unsubscribe from the monthly letter at any time (every email includes an unsubscribe link);
• install the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on to block analytics across all sites.

To exercise any of these, just get in touch and we'll act promptly. If you're in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Children's privacy

Shiki is a general-audience travel site and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the equivalent age in your region), and accounts may not be created by children under that age. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site evolves. When we do, we'll revise the "last updated" date above, and any material changes will be made clear on this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or want us to access or delete your data? Email shiki.japan.guide@gmail.com.