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Privacy Policy

Effective date: 2026-09-07 (JST)
Last updated: 2026-09-16 (JST)
Version: 2026-09-16

This policy describes how Kobe-in-Pocket Development Team / Kobe Institute of Computing - College of Computing ("we") handles information in the mobile application "KOBE in Your Pocket" (the "App").

1. Who we are and how to contact us

Use the contact above for questions about this policy and for the requests described in section 7.

2. Information we collect

The App does not use advertising identifiers and does not track you across apps or websites.

If you have indicated that you are under 18, we do not offer the features covered by 2.1 to 2.3, as explained in section 8, and therefore do not collect that information.

The information described in 2.1 and 2.2 is collected only in versions of the App that offer account and review features. The current version does not offer them.

2.1 Account information

Collected only if you create an account. You can browse tourist spots, the map, evacuation shelters and etiquette guidance without an account.

• Email address
• Password (we never hold it in plain text; it is stored as a hash by our authentication provider)
• Display name
• Profile icon image
• If you sign in with Google, the email address and basic profile information Google provides

2.2 Content you submit

• Review text, rating and submission time for tourist spots

Reviews are shown publicly together with your display name.

2.3 Location data

• Your device's current location, only if you grant the operating system's location permission

We never collect location in the background. Your location is used on the device to show the map and to calculate distances. Only when you request walking directions are the origin and destination coordinates sent to a routing service (OpenRouteService). We do not store any location history on our servers.

2.4 Data kept only on your device

The following stay on your device and are never sent to our servers:

• Display language setting
• Your acceptance of this policy (the version accepted, the date and time of acceptance, and whether you declared yourself to be 18 or older)
• Offline cache of evacuation shelter data

2.5 Information you enter in the contact form

Collected only if you submit the contact form linked in section 1.

• The content of your enquiry
• Your email address, if you would like a reply (optional)

The contact form is a Google Form, and submissions are stored on Google LLC's servers. You do not need to sign in with a Google account to use it, and we do not receive your Google account information.

3. Why we use it

1. To provide and display tourist spot, evacuation shelter and etiquette information
2. To show the map, calculate distances and provide walking directions based on your location
3. To authenticate your account
4. To publish, display and manage reviews
5. To moderate inappropriate content and otherwise operate the service
6. To respond to your enquiries

4. Sharing and processors

We do not share personal data with third parties without your consent, except where required by law.

We use the following service providers to operate the App:

5. International transfers

Supabase, OpenRouteService and Google LLC may process information on servers located outside Japan. By using the App you agree to these transfers.

You may request information about the data protection regimes of those countries and the safeguards our providers apply by contacting us at the address in section 1.

6. Retention

• Account information: retained until the account is deleted, and erased promptly upon a deletion request.
• Reviews: retained until the review or the account is deleted.
• Location data: not stored on our servers.
• Enquiries: retained for one year after we finish responding, then erased.
• On-device settings and consent records: retained on your device until you uninstall the App.

7. Your rights

You may request disclosure, correction, addition, deletion, suspension of use, or suspension of disclosure to third parties for the personal data we hold about you. Contact us using the details in section 1.

The current version of the App does not offer accounts, so we hold no account information. In versions that do offer accounts, you can delete your account yourself from the settings screen in the App; doing so erases your account information and the data held by our authentication provider.

8. Children

When you first open the App, the consent screen asks whether you are 18 or older. If you indicate that you are under 18, we do not provide the following features, all of which involve collecting personal information:

• Use of your current location (the App does not even show the location permission prompt)
• Creating an account and signing in
• Posting, editing and deleting reviews

Browsing tourist spots, evacuation shelters and etiquette guidance is available regardless of age. We never restrict access to evacuation shelter information on the basis of age, because it is safety information people rely on during a disaster.

We store only whether you are 18 or older, and we store it on your device. We do not collect your date of birth or any other information that identifies your age.

This check relies on your own declaration. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 18, we will erase it promptly.

9. Cookies and tracking

The App does not collect advertising identifiers, does not serve targeted advertising, does not track you across apps, and includes no third-party analytics.

10. Security

Information is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and protected by access controls in our authentication provider. The administration console is accessible only to authorised operators.

11. Changes to this policy

We may revise this policy when laws or the service change. For significant changes we will show the revised policy when you open the App and ask you to accept it again.

12. Revision history