The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Privacy Policy (For Users in the European Union)

The Mainichi Newspapers Co. (hereinafter the “Company”) recognizes the importance of personal information. To thoroughly protect that information, the Company strictly observes Personal Information Protection Law (hereinafter the “Law”) of Japan and all other relevant domestic laws and ordinances. The Company thoroughly manages personal information and treats it appropriately.

The Law specifically excludes from its provisions personal information provided for the purposes of press and writing. However, the Company manages personal information strictly and handles it in a suitable manner. For more details on the handling of personal information provided for news reporting and written works, please refer to the following link: LINK 1

The Company handles personal information obtained in the course of its business activities (sales, advertising, events, digital services, etc.) according to the following public policy based on the Law:

◆Purposes of Use
The Company acquires personal information using appropriate methods, clearly displays or communicates the reasons for acquiring it to the user, posts the purposes of personal information use on its website and, with exceptions based on laws and ordinances, uses personal information only for the purposes stated. The Company will again inform the user of cases where use of personal information exceeds these stated purposes.

For details on the Company’s public list of the purposes of personal information use, please refer to the following link: LINK 2

◆Secured management of personal data
The Company has set internal rules for handling of personal information, established personal information management and a “My Number” personal ID number department that, using appropriate methods, confirms the accuracy of personal information. The Company takes necessary and appropriate steps for secured management of personal data, including measures to prevent leaks, damage or destruction of personal data through illicit access or alteration by outside parties, etc. The Company continuously works to improve its personal information management.

◆User Information and External Transmission
The Company obtains and uses user information (access data such as browsing history using cookies, device information, etc.) in order to improve user convenience and to deliver advertisements on the websites, mobile applications and other digital services it operates. For details on purposes of use, please refer to the following link: LINK 3. For details on external transmission of user information and opt-out procedures, please refer to this link: LINK 4.

◆Authorized Handling of Information and Withdrawal of Consent
By agreeing to this privacy policy, the user gives consent to the Company’s handling of the user’s personal information. The Company handles personal information with the consent of the user, but the user is free to withdraw such consent at any time. However, withdrawal of consent does not affect the legality of the Company’s handling of personal information based on consent given before withdrawal. Additionally, in the case of users who are minors (under the age of 16 for those residing in the European Union), permission or agreement of a parent or guardian is required to use the Services.

◆Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties
The Company does not provide personal information to third parties without prior consent of the users, except for joint use, consignment of business, or other cases based on laws and regulations. Furthermore, provisions of personal information for consignment of business will be strictly limited to what is required for the execution of the consigned work. Consignee must also sign a confidentiality agreement with the Company, and the Company monitors consignee to ensure they are implementing appropriate personal information management and protection measures.

◆Joint Use
All group firms belong to the Company and all sales offices selling the Mainichi Shimbun jointly uses personal information they acquire with each other. For details on the Company’s data joint use policy, please refer to the following link: LINK 5.

◆Anonymously Processed
The Company may provide personal information to third parties after it anonymously processed said personal information so as neither to be able to identify a specific individual nor to be able to restore the personal information. For details on the Company’s Anonymously Processed Information policy, please refer to the following link: LINK 6.

◆Retention Period
To provide the Services to users, the Company will retain their personal information as long as such need exists. If retention is no longer necessary, the information will be promptly deleted.

◆Transfer of Personal Information to Other Regions
To meet the Purposes of Use stated above, the user’s personal information may be transferred outside of the user’s country of residence for processing. The Company will comply with laws and regulations and ensure that sufficient measures are taken to protect the user’s personal information, including when transferring or receiving the personal information of users from within the EU.

◆Disclosure, Correction, Suspension of Use, etc. of Personal Information
The Company will do its best to manage users’ personal information accurately and in an up-to-date manner. An individual user or their representative may request that the Company disclose, correct, delete, or stop using their personal information or stop providing it to third parties, and disclose records of information provided to third parties. Upon receiving such a request, the Company will respond within a reasonable period of time and to a reasonable degree, to the extent that it is able to confirm that the request is made by the user in question.

◆Contact for Inquiries and Requests for Disclosure
The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Personal Information Officer
1-1-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

◆Revisions to the Privacy Policy
Taking all possible measures to protect personal information, the policy above may be revised appropriately to reflect trends in business practice. In the event that this policy is revised, the Company will inform users of the important changes in an easy-to-understand manner.

Updated on March 21, 2024.

 

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Regarding Personal Information Handling for Press and Writing Purposes:

Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information (hereinafter the “Law”) specifies that the handling of personal information by press organizations that has been provided for use in the press, or by persons who practices writing as a profession for the purposes of being provided for use in writing, are not subject to the duties set under the Law. This is for reasons of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and The Mainichi Newspapers Co. (hereinafter the “Company”) values the legislative intent of this exemption. The Company strictly manages personal information provided for the purposes of press and writing, and handles said information in a fair and respectful manner.

1. – Personal information obtained for the purposes of press and writing is, in principle, only used for press and writing. Permission shall be obtained from the individual in case that individual’s personal information will be used for any other purpose.
2. – Efforts will be made to make sure personal information used for press and writing is acquired in an appropriate manner.
3. – The Mainichi Newspapers has an ethical duty to protect source confidentiality, and will make every effort to do so.
4. – Personal information obtained for the purposes of press and writing will be handled with the utmost care. To prevent information loss or leaks, persons responsible in each department will thoroughly manage the secured handling of said information.
5. – Personal information provided for the purposes of press and writing has a reasonable exemption under the Law, and thus will not be disclosed. Inquiries and complaints regarding this point can be submitted to the following Company’s personal information office via this online form (LINK), and the Company will make every effort to resolve any concerns. Depending on the personal information concerned, the response to a given inquiry may be handled by the editorial division, media division, or another department.

The Mainichi Newspaper Co.
Personal Information/ “My Number” personal ID number department
Letters regarding this point can be sent to:
1-1-1 Hitotsubashi
Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
100-8051

The office can be reached by telephone (in Japanese) at 03-3212-0123. (10 a.m. to 5 p.m., regular weekdays only)

Purposes of Use

The Mainichi Newspapers Co. will acquire personal information using appropriate methods, and will use it only for the following purposes, excluding exceptional cases in accordance with laws and ordinances. While the Purposes of Use are as stated below, the Company may separately notify individuals when acquiring their information. If the Company plans to use personal information for purposes extending beyond the Purposes of Use listed below, individuals will be informed of that purposes of use.

Personal information will be acquired for the following purposes:

1.To deliver and provide products and services.
・To deliver newspapers and other publications, as well as products, and manage subscriber and purchaser information.
・To offer membership benefits and manage member information.
・To confirm applications for lectures, exhibitions, etc. and plan and administer events, such as sending tickets to users.

2.To provide information about products, services, and events.
・To provide information on the newspapers, books, magazines, etc. published by the Company and its affiliated firms.
・To provide information on events and other activities carried out by the Company and its affiliated firms.
・To offer information about membership benefits.
・To offer information about products, services, etc. of the Company’s third-party partners.

3.To send rewards, gifts and other items.
・To send rewards, etc. for participating in questionnaires conducted by the Company.
・To send gifts and other items related to competitions, etc. that the individual has entered.

4.To improve products and services, and enhance the user experience.
・To send questionnaires etc. for developing new products and services.
・To conduct surveys to improve services for users.
・To analyze use of the Company’s services to provide content, advertisements, and other information from the Company or third-party partners that would be convenient to the user.

5.To respond to inquiries.
・To respond to inquiries and send documents.
・For the Company to contact individuals.

About Use of Data

The Company obtains and uses user information (access data such as browsing history using cookies, device information, etc.) through the services of external businesses in order to improve user convenience and to deliver advertisements on the websites, mobile applications and other digital services it operates. For a list of external businesses, purposes of use, and opt-out procedures, please refer to “About External Transmission of User Information.” (LINK)

◆Types of User Information Obtained
・Users’ browsing history (The date and time the user viewed a page, the web page’s URL, the number of times accessed, etc.)
・Users’ device information (Web browser type, operating system, IP address, etc.)
・Location data linked with the user’s IP address
・Referrer information (Information on the website or other place from which the user was directed to the Company’s website)

◆Purposes of Use
・To identify users who are entitled to member services.
User access data will be applied such that users will not have to enter their ID and password each time they log into a member service operated by the Company, as well as to alter the services it offers based on the user’s membership type.
・To offer personalized article suggestions to users based on their interests.
The Company provides a digital service that makes it easy for users to find articles they wish to read by determining the genres and areas of their interest and displaying related stories, based on the article browsing history of each user.
・To grasp the usage status and use it to improve digital services.
The Company gathers statistics, including the overall number of devices accessing its digital services, as well as the access count for each article and article browsing history, among other information. The results of this analysis are used to improve and enhance services.
・To optimize advertisement distribution and behavioral targeting.
The Company’s digital services display advertisements that are believed to be useful for individual users, based on data from cookies, through an ad distribution server. In addition, ad distribution is controlled to prevent the same advertisement from being displayed repeatedly and unnecessarily to the same user.

◆About Cookies
Cookies are small files containing information including website browsing history, that are sent from servers and stored on the user’s computer. It is a system to track visitors to a website. Cookies do not contain information identifying individual users.
The user can choose whether to allow or reject cookies issued by the Company’s websites or external businesses.
Disabling cookies may cause some or all site content and services to not function properly. 
*For details, please refer to “About Transmission of User Information.” (LINK)

◆About Web Beacons
Web beacons (clear GIFs) are transparent graphic images placed on web pages, and are used to measure the pages accessed from a user’s device. By using them in combination with cookies, website operators can acquire detailed statistics and information to enhance services. Web beacons do not acquire information identifying individual users.

Joint use of Personal Information

Personal information acquired by the Company may be jointly utilized with The Mainichi Newspapers group companies and Mainichi Shimbun sales offices. For joint use, the Company inform and state the following information:

(1) Personal Information:
• Name
• Address
• Birth date
• Sex
• Occupation
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Subscription and usage history
• Other information provided by the user themselves

(2) Scope of Information Sharing:
• Group companies: The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Sports Nippon Newspapers Co., Mainichi Shimbun Publishing Inc., Mainichi Educational Institute Co., Mainichi Hanbai Kyoei Co., Mainichi Newspapers Osaka Development Co., Daimaikyoei Co., Mainichi Media Service, Mainichi Shimbun Nagoya Kaihatsu Co.
• Mainichi Shimbun sales offices.

(3) Purposes of Use
• To deliver and offer products and services.
• To distribute information on products, services, and events.
• To send rewards, gifts, and other items.
• To improve and enhance user experience of products and services.
• To respond to inquiries.

(4) Party Responsible for Managing Jointly Utilized Information:
The Mainichi Newspapers Co.

Inquiries regarding joint use can be directed to:

The Mainichi Newspapers Co.
Personal Information/ “My Number” personal ID number department
1-1-1 Hitotsubashi,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-8051
Japan

Phone number: 03-3212-0123 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m., regular weekdays only)

Anonymously Processed Information Statements

The Company may provide personal information to third parties after it anonymously processed said personal information so as neither to be able to identify a specific individual nor to be able to restore the personal information. In the case that the information is provided to third parties, the Company notifies them that the information has been anonymously processed. For anonymously processed information, the Company inform and state the following information:

(1) Data Included in anonymously processed information:
• Address (up to the city, ward, town, or village)
• Age (Birth date)
• Sex
• Usage history
• Other information gathered from users with their permission, such as family structure and household income.

(2) Provision Methods
• Through recording media
• By email
• Through other methods with prior security guarantees