Last updated: 2026-09-29

This is a reference translation. The Japanese version is the authoritative text.

Gran-C Inc. ("we", "us", or "our") sets out this Privacy Policy (this "Policy") to explain how we handle personal information and other information relating to users ("User Information") in "Japan Compass" (the "Service").

The Service provides information within Japan, primarily for people who are visiting or planning to visit Japan. We handle User Information in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information of Japan (the "APPI") and other laws of Japan.

Article 1 (Company Information)

Item	Details
Company name	Gran-C Inc.
Address	VORT Shinjuku Gyoen 3F, 2-3-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan
Representative	Kazuhiro Ohara
Personal information manager	Representative Director
Contact	japancompass@gran-c.co.jp
Hours	10:00–19:00 (excluding weekends, public holidays, and the year-end/new-year period)

Article 2 (Scope of this Policy)

This Policy applies to the handling of User Information in the Service, including our website and any mobile application we may offer in the future.
This Policy does not apply to how third-party websites or services linked from the Service handle your information. Please review the privacy policy of the relevant third party.
The handling of User Information in other services we provide is governed by the privacy policy of that service.

Article 3 (Information We Collect)

The types of information we collect, their specific contents, and how we collect them are set out in Appendix 1. The main categories are:

Account information (obtained through social login)
Information you choose to enter (including your profile, posts, feedback, text entered into the AI chat, your saved list (favorites and shopping list), and photos taken with the package scan)
Information collected automatically as you use the Service (including usage events, session identifiers, referral information, country/region code, platform information, an irreversibly converted value derived from your IP address, and browser information)
Location information
Application and payment information, where you use a paid service

Please note: Please do not enter your name, contact details, passport number, or any other information that identifies you, or detailed information about your health, into free-text fields or the AI chat.

Article 4 (Information Transmitted from Your Device to External Parties)

When you use the Service, information stored on or generated by your device is transmitted to external parties. The recipients, the information transmitted, and the purposes are listed in our External Data Transmission Policy. This Article is published under Article 27-12 of the Telecommunications Business Act.

Article 5 (Purposes of Use)

We use the User Information we collect for the following purposes. The correspondence between each type of information and these purposes is set out in Appendix 1.

To provide, maintain, protect, and improve the Service
To search for facilities, stores, medical institutions, and similar places near your current location and display them on a map
To provide AI responses and other information features
To register, authenticate, and manage accounts
To respond to inquiries, comments, and reports
To provide paid services, and to invoice and collect payment for them
To analyse how the Service is used, in order to improve features and content and develop new features
To analyse the location information and usage history we collect, infer your interests, the areas you stay in, and other attributes, and deliver advertisements, coupons, and other information based on those inferences
To measure advertising effectiveness by aggregating ad impressions, clicks, coupon usage, and store visits following exposure to an advertisement
To create statistical information processed so that individuals cannot be identified, or anonymously processed information as defined in the APPI, and to provide it to third parties (companies, local governments, research institutions, and others) or use it for our own business
To provide information about other services offered by us or our affiliates
To respond to breaches of the Terms of Service and other improper use, and to maintain the security of the Service
To respond to requests based on laws or from competent public authorities
For purposes incidental to any of the above

Article 6 (Handling of Location Information)

Because location information is highly sensitive to privacy, we handle it as follows.

We obtain consent separately for each purpose. You can choose separately whether to consent to (i) searching for nearby facilities, (ii) ad delivery and store-visit measurement, and (iii) creating statistical information and providing it to third parties. (ii) and (iii) are disabled by default and are carried out only if you explicitly enable them.
We record it at reduced precision. Location information recorded on our servers is limited to a value rounded to approximately 110 metres square.
When searching for nearby facilities, the coordinates of your current location are transmitted to the external services set out in Appendix 1 and Article 10 in order to return search results.
We delete it after a short period. Recorded location information is automatically deleted 30 days after collection.
You can change your consent at any time. You can stop each purpose at any time from the profile screen in My Page.
We take measures to prevent identification of individuals when creating statistical information. We coarsen the geographic and time granularity and exclude aggregation units containing fewer than a set number of people, so that no specific individual can be identified.
The coordinates of a spot you post are stored as information indicating that spot's location and are published on the Service.

Article 7 (Handling of Health and Symptom Information)

The Service offers features for searching symptoms and browsing medicines. We collect records of the use of these features for the purposes of improving the Service and preventing improper use.
We do not intentionally collect your medical history or any other special care-required personal information as defined in the APPI. Nor do we provide health or symptom information to third parties in a form that identifies an individual.
If you enter information about your health into the AI chat or a free-text field, that information is handled as part of the text you entered. Please do not enter detailed information about your health into these fields.
We do not use health or symptom information for advertising targeting.

Article 8 (Cookies and Browser Storage)

The Service uses cookies and browser storage to keep you signed in and to analyse usage. Tracking for analytics and advertising begins only if you consent via the banner shown on your first visit. The basic features of the Service remain available even if you do not consent.

Name	Type	Purpose	Retention
Sign-in cookie	Cookie	Keeping you signed in	Until the session ends or the set period elapses
onegaimap_gate	Cookie	Access control during the limited-release period	30 days
om_geo_country	Cookie	Holding the country/region code of access (deciding whether prior consent is required, analytics, advertising)	Until you close your browser
om_tracking_consent	localStorage	Storing your consent status for analytics tracking	Until you delete it
om_location_consent	localStorage	Storing your consent status for location use	Until you delete it
om_session_id	sessionStorage	Session identifier for analytics	Until you close your browser
om_attribution	sessionStorage	Referral information (referrer, UTM parameters)	Until you close your browser
om_last_loc	sessionStorage	Most recent rounded location (to limit sending frequency and to determine location-based ads)	Until you close your browser
jtc-language	localStorage	Your display language setting	Until you delete it

For access from the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, we do not send analytics events or issue a session identifier until you have given consent.

Article 9 (Provision to Third Parties, Outsourcing, and Joint Use)

We do not provide personal data to third parties except in the following cases:
1. Where you have consented
2. Where required by law
3. Where necessary to protect a person's life, body, or property and it is difficult to obtain your consent
4. Where particularly necessary to improve public health or promote the sound development of children and it is difficult to obtain your consent
5. Where it is necessary to cooperate with a state organ or similar body performing duties prescribed by law, and obtaining consent would impede those duties
6. Where personal data is transferred as part of a business succession due to a merger, company split, business transfer, or similar event
We may outsource all or part of the handling of personal data to the extent necessary to achieve the purposes of use. In such cases, we exercise necessary and appropriate supervision over the contractor.
The provision of statistical information that cannot identify an individual is governed by Article 11.

Article 10 (Provision to Third Parties Outside Japan and Cross-Border Transfers)

In providing the Service, we use services operated by companies located in the following countries and regions, and information may accordingly be transferred there.

Company / Service	Country or Region	Information Transferred	Purpose
Google LLC (Places API, Cloud Vision API, Analytics, Sign-In, Maps)	United States	Coordinates of the search location, photos taken with the package scan, browsing information, information required for authentication	Supplementing facility information, reading the text in photos, access analysis, sign-in authentication, map display
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook Login)	United States	Information required for authentication	Sign-in authentication
OpenAI, L.L.C. (generation of AI responses, translation)	United States	Text entered into the AI chat, and text read from photos of product packages	Generating AI responses, translating the text on product packages
OpenStreetMap Foundation, Overpass API operators	United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, and others	Coordinates of the search location, the map area displayed	Map display, searching for nearby facilities
Functional Software, Inc. dba Sentry (error monitoring)	United States	Error details, the URL of the page where the error occurred, browser and device information, IP address, a record of actions	Detecting defects and investigating their cause
Vercel Inc.	United States	Information required to display the screens of the Service	Website delivery
Railway Corp.	United States	Information handled in the Service (including the database and uploaded images)	Storing information and operating the system

We update the list above as we add or change the providers we use. If we add an external service that can be used for sign-in, we will add that provider to this table.
Information about the personal data protection regimes of each country and region is available on the website of Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission and elsewhere.
When providing personal data to a third party outside Japan, we do so after obtaining your consent under the APPI, or after confirming that the third party has established a framework conforming to standards equivalent to the APPI.
With the external provider to which AI chat input and text read from photos of product packages are sent, we receive the service on terms under which that input is not used to train the provider's generative AI models.

Article 11 (Creation and Provision of Statistical Information)

From the User Information we collect, we may create statistical information processed so that no specific individual can be identified and the personal information cannot be restored (aggregate values regarding visit trends and demand distribution by area, time of day, and nationality), and provide it to third parties or use it for our own business.
In creating statistical information, we take the following measures:
1. Rounding location information into areas of a set size, and rounding time into set intervals
2. Excluding any aggregation unit containing fewer than ten people from what we provide
3. Excluding information about medical institutions and other sensitive locations from what we provide
4. Allowing a set period to pass between collection and provision
In our contracts with recipients of statistical information, we prohibit re-identifying specific individuals, cross-referencing with other information, and onward provision to third parties.
We do not sell User Information in a form that identifies an individual, and we do not make precise location information available for sale.

Article 12 (Retention Periods)

Type of Information	Retention Period
Location information (records for analytics and advertising)	30 days from collection
Usage events, ad and coupon measurement records	400 days from collection
Records of AI chat and medicine search use (including a hashed IP address and browser information)	90 days from collection
Feedback content	1 year from collection
Account information	Until the account is deleted
Contents of your saved list	Until the account is deleted
Photos taken with the package scan and the text read from them	Not retained (discarded as soon as the text has been read and translated)
Information on posted spots	Until publication on the Service ends
Records of paid-service transactions	The period prescribed by law (seven years for books and records)
Information we are required by law to retain	The period prescribed by that law

Once the retention period has passed, we delete the information or process it so that individuals cannot be identified.

Article 13 (Security Measures)

We take the following measures to prevent leakage, loss, or damage to User Information and otherwise manage it securely.

Organisational measures: Appointing a person responsible for handling personal information, recording and regularly reviewing how information is handled, and maintaining a structure for responding to incidents such as leakage
Personnel measures: Training employees who handle personal information and entering into confidentiality arrangements
Technical measures: Managing access rights (including separation of privileges by role), encrypting communications, storing credentials in irreversibly converted form, and preventing unauthorised external access
Understanding the external environment: We store information using cloud providers located in the United States (Vercel Inc. and Railway Corp.). We take necessary and appropriate measures having understood the personal data protection regime of that country.

Article 14 (Your Rights and How to Exercise Them)

You may request that we notify you of the purpose of use, disclose, correct, add to, delete, suspend the use of, erase, or stop the provision to third parties of your retained personal data.
Please make such requests to the contact point set out in Article 1. We will respond within the period prescribed by law after confirming your identity. We may ask you to submit identification documents to the extent necessary.
You may delete your account from My Page on the Service. If you delete your account, we will erase your account information and unlink any remaining usage records from you.
If we cannot grant a request, we will notify you of the reason. If you disagree with that decision, you may ask us to reconsider.

Article 15 (Withdrawal of Consent)

You may withdraw your consent to analytics tracking and to the use of location information at any time, for each purpose separately, from the profile screen in My Page.
If you do not wish to receive behaviourally targeted advertising, you can stop location-based ad delivery by disabling the advertising purpose within the location consent described above.
The basic features of the Service remain available even after you withdraw consent.
Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

Article 16 (Children's Personal Information)

The Service is not intended for persons under 16 years of age.
If a person under 16 uses the Service, please obtain the consent of a parent or guardian in advance. Where the law of your country of residence sets a different age, that age applies.
If we learn that we have collected personal information of a person under 16 without the consent of a parent or guardian, we will promptly delete that information.

Article 17 (Changes to this Policy)

We may change this Policy in response to amendments to laws or changes to the Service.
If we make a significant change, we will announce the revised content and its effective date in advance by posting on the Service or by another appropriate method.
If we newly begin providing statistical information to third parties, or substantially change what we provide, we will give advance notice and allow a period during which you may ask us to stop such provision.

Article 18 (Inquiries and Complaints)

Please direct inquiries, complaints, and requests regarding this Policy or the handling of User Information to the contact point set out in Article 1. You may also lodge a complaint with Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission or another supervisory authority with jurisdiction where you are located.

Appendix 1: Information We Collect and the Purposes of Use

Type of Information	Specific Contents	How It Is Collected	Main Purposes (item numbers in Article 5)
Account information	Name or display name, email address, profile image URL, authentication provider name and account identifier	Obtained from the authentication provider at social login	1, 4, 5, 11
Profile information	Age range, gender, country/region, interests, preference for receiving marketing information	Entered by you at your option	7, 8, 10
Posted information	Name, location, description, photographs, and coordinates of a spot you post	Entered by you at your option	1, 7
Feedback	Free-text content, and your email address if you would like a reply	Entered by you at your option	5, 7
AI chat input	Questions and other text you enter	Entered by you at your option	3, 7
Product package photos	Photos taken with the package scan and the text read from them	Taken by you (not stored; discarded once reading and translation are complete)	3
Saved list	Identifiers, display names, notes, and quantities of the facilities, spots, medicines, products, and articles you have saved	Collected when you save an item (stored on our servers only while you are signed in; stored only on your device when you are not)	1, 7
Usage events	Pages viewed, actions such as taps and searches, display language	Collected automatically	7, 8, 9, 10
Session identifier	A random string	Generated automatically	7, 9
Referral information	Referrer, UTM parameters	Collected automatically (stored only with consent)	7
Country/region code	Inferred from your network connection	Collected automatically	7, 8, 10
Platform information	Category of usage environment, app version, browser language setting	Collected automatically	1, 7
Communication information	An irreversibly converted value derived from your IP address, browser type and version	Collected automatically when you use the AI chat or medicine search	7, 12
Ad and coupon measurement information	Records of ad impressions and clicks, and of coupons being opened and used	Collected automatically	8, 9, 10
Location information (for search)	Coordinates of your current location	Collected based on your device's location permission	2
Location information (for analytics and advertising)	Location rounded to approximately 110 metres square	Collected based on purpose-specific consent	8, 9, 10
Payment information	Details of your paid-service application, type of payment method, transaction records	Collected when you apply for a paid service	6, 13

We do not store credit card numbers or other information required for payment on our servers. Payments are processed through a payment service provider.