Privacy Policy

KODANSHA USA PUBLISHING, LLC
Privacy Policy

Last Updated:  May 27, 2021

INTRODUCTION

As used in this Privacy Policy, “KUP”, “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our” refer to Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC.  Except as specifically provided herein, this Privacy Policy does not apply to our parent company, Kodansha Ltd., or any of the other companies in the Kodansha corporate group.

Your privacy is important to KUP, and we are committed to protecting it through this Privacy Policy, which is part of the Terms of Use (“TOU”) located at https://kodansha.us/terms-of-use/. Initially capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy have the meaning set forth in the TOU.

We may receive information about you through your use of our web domains, including kodansha.us and subdomains (collectively the “Site”).  

This Privacy Policy describes: (i) the types of information we collect from you or that you may provide when you visit and/or use the Site; and (ii) our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, sharing, and disclosing that information. Please familiarize yourself with our privacy practices and contact us as described below under “Contacting KUP” if you have any questions.

Unless it specifically states otherwise, this Privacy Policy applies to the collection, use and disclosure of information that we collect:

  • Through the Site;
  • In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and us and/or the Site;
  • Through mobile and desktop applications you download from the Site, if any, which provide dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and the Site; and
  • When you interact with our advertising and applications, if any, on third-party websites and services, if those applications or advertising include links to this Privacy Policy.

It does not apply to information collected by:

  • Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website or application operated by us or any third party (including but not limited to our affiliates and subsidiaries); and/or 
  • Any third party, including without limitation: (iii) any application or content (including without limitation advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or located on the Site; and/or (iv) third-party websites or services that display KUP content, which may include Apple Books, Comixology, and Google Play Books.

If you view or use any of these other websites or online services, please note that any information you may provide will be subject to the privacy policy and other terms and conditions of those websites or services, and not this Privacy Policy.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will handle your information. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you agree not to use any part of the Site. To the fullest extent allowed by law: (v) by accessing or using any part of the Site, you agree to this Privacy Policy; and (vi) your continued use of the Site after we make changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes. Please check this Privacy Policy regularly and periodically for updates. 

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. It is our policy to post any changes we make to our Privacy Policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you directly if we have your email address and post a separate notice on the Site. The date this Privacy Policy was last updated is identified at the top of the first page of this Privacy Policy. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for regularly and periodically visiting this Privacy Policy to check for any changes. As noted above, subject to applicable law (if any) your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

When we refer to the term “GDPR” in this Privacy Policy we mean the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.  The term “EEA” means the European Economic Area.

I.  INFORMATION WE COLLECT
II. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
III. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW LONG WE KEEP IT
IV. HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION
V. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY
VI. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION
VII. HOW YOU MAY CHANGE, REMOVE, OR EXPORT YOUR INFORMATION
VIII. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SERVICES
IX. UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
X. NON-US USERS
XI. RIGHTS OF USERS FROM THE EEA
A. Data Controller
B. Rights Of EEA Residents
XII. YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

I.    INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect several types of information from and about users of the Site, including:

  • Information by which you may be personally identified, such as name, date of birth, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number or personal image (“personal information”);
  • Non-personal information about you which does not identify you, such as browser type, internet Service Provider (“ISP”) and country of registration (collectively, “Device Information”), and aggregated Site use information;
  • Technical information, including but not limited to the IP address through which you access the Site and the unique mobile device ID or virtual unique device identifier for any mobile device used to access your account; and
  • Information about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access the Site, and related usage details.

Information You Provide to Us  

The information we collect on or through the Site may include:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms on the Site. This includes information provided at the time of registering for our email newsletter, or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you enter a contest or Promotion (defined below), and when you report a problem with the Site;
  • Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us;
  • Your responses to surveys we may ask you to complete;  
  • Details of transactions you carry out through the Site, if any; and
  • Your search queries on the Site. 

Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies  

As you navigate through and interact with the Site, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:

  • Details of your visits to the Site, including traffic data, location data, logs and other communication data, the resources that you access, and your use of the Site;
  • Information about your computer or device and internet connection, including as applicable, your IP address, operating system, browser type, mobile network information, and/or telephone number; and
  • Metadata and other information associated with files stored on your device.

We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (behavioral tracking). Please contact us at legal@kodanshausa.com for information on how you can opt out of behavioral tracking on the Site and details regarding how we respond to web browser signals and other mechanisms that enable consumers to exercise choice about behavioral tracking.

The information we collect includes personal information, and we maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. This helps us improve the Site and deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to: 

  • Estimate our audience size and usage patterns;
  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize the Site according to your individual interests;
  • Speed up your searches; and
  • Recognize you when you return to the Site.

III. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW LONG WE KEEP IT

We collect information:

  • Directly from you when you provide it to us, including without limitation by (a) entering your name and/or e-mail address to receive our email newsletter, (b) providing personal information necessary to obtain support for the Site, (c) providing us with your e-mail address so that we may provide you with special offers, (d) using your e-mail address as your username, if any, and/or (e) using your email address and/or mailing address for sweepstakes or contests (individually a “Promotion” and collectively “Promotions”).
  • Automatically as you navigate through the Site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and other information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies. KUP does not use your IP address or Device Information to determine your exact location.
  • From third parties, for example, our business partners, who may share personal information they collect.

We also may use technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (behavioral tracking). The technologies we or our service providers, such as Google Analytics or other analytics services use for this automatic data collection may include:

  • Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may have the option to refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser or responding to a prompt from a page you visit. Additionally, you may disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on’s settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer.  If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all or part of the Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to the Site. Cookies in the Site (“Site Cookies”) are only used to obtain browser or device-specific information. Site Cookies do not collect information from your computer or mobile device unrelated to the Site.
  • Flash Cookies. Certain features of the Site may use local stored objects (Flash cookies) to collect and store information about your preferences and navigation to, from, and on the Site. Flash cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as are used for browser cookies. 
  • PixelTags. Pages of the Site and our e-mails may use “pixel tags,” “web beacons,” “clear GIFs”, “single-pixel gifs” or similar means (individually or collectively “Pixel Tags”) in connection with the Site and to collect usage, demographic and geographical location data.  A Pixel Tag is an electronic image, often a single pixel that is ordinarily not visible to users and may be associated with cookies on a user’s device or hard drive.  Pixel Tags allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Site, record the popularity of certain Site content and verify system and server integrity.
  • Third-Party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies. Some content, including advertisements, on the Site may be served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the Site. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. Their placement and use of cookies and other technologies will be subject to their own privacy policies and terms and conditions. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. 

Retention of Your Personal Information

We will only store your information as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information is collected and processed or, where applicable law provides for longer storage and retention periods, for the storage and retention period required by law.  After that your personal information will be deleted. 

Other

We may offer you the opportunity to receive premium support or special offers from us and/or our partner companies, such as a Promotion. If you choose to participate in a Promotion, we may request that you provide us with personal information such as your e-mail address or mailing address as part of the registration process. We may require you to enter a region and language in order to provide relevant information in your language. We may also request or receive personal information in other interactions you have with us.

IV. HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We may share your personal information with other companies within our corporate group, including without limitation Kodansha, Ltd. and Kodansha USA, Inc.  In that case, those companies will be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy and applicable law with regard to that information.

We will not share your personal information with third-party advertisers, advertising networks and advertising platforms (“Advertising Companies”) for their direct marketing purposes unless you provide your prior consent. 

We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this Privacy Policy:

  • To our subsidiaries and affiliates;
  • To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them;
  • To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of the Company’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by the Company about the Site’s users is among the assets transferred;
  • To third parties to market their products or services to you if you have consented to these disclosures. We contractually require these third parties to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them; 
  • To law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of KUP or a third party, to protect the safety of any person or to prevent or stop activity we consider to be illegal or unethical;
  • In connection with any Promotion you may enter, as necessary to administer, market, sponsor or provide fulfillment under the Promotion or as required by applicable law;  
  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it; 
  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information; and
  • With your consent. 

We may also disclose your personal information:

  • To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including responding to any government or regulatory request;
  • To enforce or apply our TOU and other agreements; and
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, security or safety of the Company, our customers, or others, or to address technical issues. This includes without limitation exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction. 

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

Please note the following mechanisms that allow you to exercise control over your information: 

  • Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. To learn how you can manage your Flash cookie settings, please visit the Flash player settings page on Adobe’s website. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
  • Promotional Offers from the Company. If you do not wish to have your contact information used by the Company to promote our own or third parties’ products or services, you can opt-out by sending us an email stating your request to legal@kodanshausa.com. If we have sent you a promotional email, you may send us a return email asking to be omitted from future email distributions. This opt out does not apply to information provided to the Company as a result of a user service experience or other transactions.

We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. For example, you may opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI’s website:  https://www.networkadvertising.org.

California residents may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see Your California Privacy Rights for more information.

Accessing and Correcting Your Information 

You may send us an email at legal@kodanshausa.com to request access to, object to, rectify, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement, or cause the information to be incorrect.

V. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

To any parent of a child under thirteen (13) years of age, please speak with your child about communicating with strangers and disclosing personal information online. Please also familiarize yourself with the procedures in this Section V regarding consent to disclosure, and use of your child’s personal information. We will not collect more information from children under the age of thirteen (13) than is reasonably necessary to provide the Site. By written notice to us, parents may elect to restrict our collection and use of their child’s information to our internal purposes only and prohibit disclosure to third parties, unless disclosure is integral to the Site.

If you are under thirteen (13) years of age, please do not use or provide any information on the Site or through any of its features. Please do not register on the Site, make any purchases through the Site, or use any of the interactive or other features of the Site. Please do not provide any information about yourself to us, including but not limited to your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen or username you may use, without having your parent or legal guardian provide us prior written consent. 

If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under thirteen (13) without verification of prior parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we may possess or have received any information from or about a child under thirteen (13) without such prior parental consent, please immediately contact us at legal@kodanshausa.com.

Under GDPR, the applicable age for the requirements above in this section is sixteen (16) years of age, and in one or more countries outside the United States, the applicable age is fourteen (14) years of age, rather than thirteen (13) years of age. 

California residents under sixteen (16) years of age may have additional rights regarding the collection and sale of their personal information. Please see Your California Privacy Rights for more information.

VI. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, theft, use, alteration, and disclosure. All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers. 

We do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, or other identification in a non-secure or unsolicited communication (such as e-mail). 

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we attempt to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to or on the Site. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. You assume this risk by using any part of the Site. We are not responsible for circumvention of any of our privacy settings or security measures, and/or any damages resulting from such circumvention. 

If any breach of data system security occurs, we will make any legally required disclosure to you by e-mail or posting on the Site as soon as reasonably possible. Any such disclosure will be subject to law enforcement requests and measures necessary to determine the breach’s scope and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.

VII. HOW YOU MAY CHANGE OR REMOVE INFORMATION

You may email us at legal@kodanshausa.com to request that we delete your personal information from our database.  For such requests, please write “delete my personal information” in the subject line, and include your first and last name and e-mail address in the body of the message. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for administrative purposes.

Please note that we will store communications you may send through the Site, and they may not be subject to modification or deletion.

You may also control the information that we collect through the settings in your browser or mobile device.  You may configure your browser to reject cookies from Company and may adjust the settings of your mobile device to prevent the Site from obtaining location information.  However, please note that the Site may rely on cookies and location information to function properly, and some parts of the Site may not be available if you disable cookies. 

VIII. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SERVICES

The Site may contain links to other websites and online services, including to websites from which you may purchase KUP publications (such as Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play Books and others) and to third-party advertisements.  If you choose to click through to one of these other websites or online services, please note that any information you may provide will be subject to the privacy policy and other terms and conditions of that websites or service, and not to this Privacy Policy.  We do not control third-party websites or services, and fact that a link to such a website or service appears on the Site does not mean that we endorse them or have approved their policies or practices relating to user information.

Before providing any information to any third-party website or service, we encourage you to review the privacy policy and other terms and conditions of that website or service.  You agree that KUP will have no liability for any matters related to a third-party website or service that you provide information to, including without limitation their collection and/or handling of that information.

IX. UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time.  If we modify this Privacy Policy in a material way, a notice will be posted on the Site along with the updated Privacy Policy for thirty (30) days.  We will also update the “Last Updated Date” in the Privacy Policy.  “Privacy Policy” as used herein includes any updates and modifications we may make from time to time. By continuing to access or use the Site after we have posted an updated Privacy Policy or have provided you with notice of a modification, subject to applicable law you agree to be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.  If the modified Privacy Policy is not acceptable to you, you must immediately stop using the Site.  

X. NON-US USERS

Information that you provide may be transferred or accessed by entities around the world as described in this Privacy Policy. If you are located outside the United States, you understand that we may transfer personal information to and process it in the United States. If you are located in the EEA, you freely consent to the transfer of personal information outside of the EEA. Privacy and data protection laws of the United States may not be as comprehensive as those of your country.  If you are located in Switzerland or the EEA, you freely consent to the transfer of personal information outside of Switzerland and the EEA.  Your consent to this Privacy Policy together with your submission of personal information constitute your agreement to these transfers. 

XI. RIGHTS OF USERS FROM THE EEA

A. Data Controller

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is the Data Controller of your personal information.

B. Rights of EEA Residents

If you are accessing or using the Site from within the EEA, you may have the following rights under the GDPR (as well as other rights). If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you may do so by contacting us as provided (i) in Section XV below, or (ii) otherwise in this Privacy Policy. 

  • Right of Access:  You have the right to obtain confirmation from us as to whether or not we process personal information from you and you also have the right to at any time obtain access to your personal information stored by us.
  • Right to Correction of your Personal Information:  If we process your personal information, we use reasonable measures to ensure that your personal information is accurate and up-to-date for the purposes for which your personal information was collected.  If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to require us to correct it.  
  • Right to Deletion of your Personal Information or Right to Restriction of Processing:  You may have the right to require us to delete your personal information or to restrict of processing of your personal information.  
  • Right to Withdraw your Consent:  If you have given your consent to the processing of your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on the consent before the withdrawal.  
  • Right to Data Portability:  You may have the right to receive the personal information concerning you and which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to transmit this data to another controller.
  • Right to Object:  You may have the right to object to the processing of your personal information as further specified in this Privacy Policy.

XII. YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

If you are a resident of California, USA and Site user, you have specific rights regarding our handling of your “personal information” as specifically defined in California’s “Shine the Light” law (See Cal. Civil Code Section § 1798.83). This law permits users of the Site who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties. To make such a request, please (a) send an email to:  legal@kodanshausa.com  and include “California Privacy Rights” in the subject line of the e-mail; or (b)  write us at: Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC, 717 Market Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, California 94103 USA.

Within thirty (30) days of receiving such a request, we will provide a list of the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for such third parties’ direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the categories of third parties receiving that personal information. A request may be made no more than twice per calendar year and we are not required to respond to requests made by means other than through the e-mail address and mailing address above. 

XIII. DO NOT TRACK DISCLOSURE

KUP does not respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals or other mechanisms.  Third parties may collect personal information about your online activities over time and across sites when you use the Site.

XIV. DISPUTES; BINDING ARBITRATION

Any disputes related to or arising from this Privacy Policy, our obligations and/or performance under this Privacy Policy will be subject to binding arbitration as provided in our TOU. PLEASE SEE THE TOU FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROCESS AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS.

XV. CONTACTING KUP

If you have any questions, inquiries, requests, comments or complaints concerning this Privacy Policy or our information practices, please contact us at legal@kodanshausa.com or by regular mail at the following address: Privacy Officer, Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC, 717 Market Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, California 94103 USA.