oVice, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”, including all of its subsidiaries) establishes this Privacy Policy (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”) as the fundamental policy to be observed for appropriately managing and operating personal information acquired by the Company in the course of providing its services, including “ovice” (hereinafter referred to as the “Services”).The Company shall handle personal information appropriately in accordance with this Policy.
Article 1. (Acquisition of Personal Information)
- In this Policy, “Personal Information” refers to personal information as defined in Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information of Japan (Act No. 57 of 2003, the “APPI”). The Company shall, upon acquiring Personal Information, clearly define the purpose of use within the scope of its legitimate business, and shall acquire and use Personal Information by lawful and fair means, to the extent necessary to achieve such purposes.
Article 2. (Personal Information Acquired)
- For the purposes set forth in Article 3, the Company may acquire the following Personal Information from users defined in Article 1, Item 7 of the ovice Terms of Use (hereinafter referred to as the “User(s)”), by lawful and fair means:
(1) Name
(2) Account information (such as e-mail address and password)
(3) Contact information including telephone number
(4) Payment information related to the Services - In addition, regardless of whether such information constitutes Personal Information, the Company may acquire the following information in connection with the use of the Services (including cases where, pursuant to the instructions of a Customer as defined in Article 1, Item 1 of the ovice Terms of Use, the Company acquires such information on behalf of such Customer. In such cases, the Customer shall bear the primary responsibility for the handling of such information, and the Company shall handle such information in accordance with Article 21 of the ovice Terms of Use.):
(1) Information concerning the User’s usage of the Services, including usage details, date and time, and frequency of use; online behavior within the Services; information relating to browsing or use of the Services (such as cookie information, access logs, account login status, movement, speaking time and frequency, number of messages sent, number of recordings, device information, OS, location information, IP address, browser type and language, etc.), excluding the content of speech, messages sent or received, and video streams.
(2) Information provided or entered by the Customer or User, or obtained through the use of the Services by the Customer or User, and other data. - Unless otherwise expressly consented by the User or permitted under applicable laws and regulations, the Company shall not, in principle, acquire Personal Information including the following:
(1) Matters concerning thoughts, beliefs, or religion
(2) Race, ethnicity, lineage, place of origin (excluding information on prefectures), disabilities, criminal history, or other matters that may cause social discrimination
(3) Matters concerning workers’ right to organize, collective bargaining, or other collective actions
(4) Participation in demonstrations, exercise of petition rights, or other exercise of political rights
(5) Matters concerning medical care or sexual life
Article 3. (Purposes of Use of Personal Information)
- The Company shall use Personal Information acquired pursuant to the preceding Article for the following purposes:
(1) Registration, identity verification, customer management, provision, and maintenance of the Services
(2) To investigate and analyze usage of the Services and improve convenience, as well as to enhance and improve the Services
(3) To plan and provide new projects, and to develop new Services or products
(4) To provide information on the Company’s Services and send newsletters as part of the Company’s marketing activities (including information on the Company’s new Services and products, recommended third-party services and products, and related campaigns, seminars, lectures, and events)
(5) To aggregate and utilize statistically processed information derived from Personal Information for the provision of the Services, improvement of service levels, and research and development
(6) To conduct questionnaires concerning current or future Services or products
(7) To distribute or display advertisements of the Company or third parties
(8) To distribute or display information on the Company’s or third parties’ products or services within the Services
(9) To prevent unauthorized use of the Services (including contacting persons who have violated or are suspected of violating the ovice Terms of Use, and refusing use of the Services by persons using or attempting to use the Services for fraudulent or improper purposes)
(10) To respond to inquiries and communications, and to verify the identity of Users (including responses and communications regarding inquiries from Customers or Users, notifications relating to the Services, and other communications necessary or useful for use of the Services)
(11) To exercise rights or perform obligations under laws, regulations, or contracts
(12) To provide Personal Information to third parties for the purposes specified in each item of Article 5, Paragraph 2
(13) For other purposes incidental to the above
Article 4. (Changes to Purposes of Use)
- The Company may change the purposes of use of Personal Information only when it is reasonably deemed to have relevance to the purposes prior to such change. If the Company uses Personal Information beyond the scope of the purposes before such change, the Company shall obtain the User’s prior consent. In the event of a change, the Company shall notify the User or publicly announce the new purposes by a method prescribed by the Company.
Article 5. (Provision of Personal Data to Third Parties)
- In principle, the Company shall not provide Personal Data to third parties without obtaining prior consent of the User, except in the following cases:
(1) When required by law
(2) When necessary to protect life, body, or property, and it is difficult to obtain the User’s consent
(3) When particularly necessary for the improvement of public health or the sound development of children, and it is difficult to obtain the User’s consent
(4) When the recipient is an academic research institution and it is necessary for academic research purposes (including cases where part of the purpose is academic research; excluding cases where there is a risk of unjust infringement of individual rights and interests; limited to cases where the academic research is conducted jointly with the third party) - With the User’s consent to this Policy, the Company may provide the User’s Personal Data to third parties in the following cases. The Company may also provide such data to third parties with the User’s separate consent in other cases as deemed necessary by the Company:
(1) With respect to “ovice” (including free trial use), to provide to the Customer or its designee, based on the Customer’s instructions, information on the usage of the Services by Guests as defined in Article 1, Paragraph 1, Item 6 of the ovice Terms of Use (including names, email addresses, IDs, place of stay within “ovice” usage time, frequency of use, messages exchanged and their frequency, speaking status, and other behavioral information within “ovice”), for the purposes of analyzing usage of each Service or confirming the results of such usage.
(2) Where the Customer is a corporation and requests provision of its officers’ or employees’ information to its parent company, group companies, or subsidiaries as Customers.
(3) To provide information to payment service providers, contractors, or other third parties for purposes of fee settlement, responding to inquiries or communications from Customers or Users, and providing related after-sales services.
(4) To provide necessary information for resolving disputes with third parties, or for protecting the rights and interests of Users or third parties.
(5) To provide information to contractors engaged in investigation or analysis of the Services’ usage status.
(6) To provide information to third parties for the distribution or display of advertisements of the Company or third parties.
(7) To provide information to third parties for the distribution or display of information on products or services of the Company or third parties within the Services.
(8) For detection and prevention of unauthorized use.
(9) To provide necessary Personal Data to academic research institutions for academic research purposes.
Article 6. (Third-Party Service Providers)
- The Company may permit access to account and service data to third-party service providers (“Sub-processors”) within the scope necessary to achieve the purposes of use stipulated in Article 3. The Company shall assess potential risks in engaging Sub-processors and shall exercise necessary and appropriate supervision. Sub-processors and related subsidiaries of the Company are stipulated in and updated from time to time in the “ovice Sub-processor Policy.”
Article 7. (Provision of Personal Data to Foreign Third Parties)
- Third parties (including Sub-processors) to whom Personal Data is provided under Article 5 or the preceding Article may be located in foreign countries as defined under the APPI. In such cases, except in the following cases, the Company shall, in principle, provide information on the name of the foreign country, the system concerning protection of personal information in such foreign country, and measures taken by such third parties for protection of personal information, obtained by appropriate and reasonable means, and obtain the User’s consent:
(1) When the third party is located in a country that has a system for protecting personal information recognized by the Personal Information Protection Commission as having equivalent standards to those of Japan (including the United Kingdom and countries stipulated in the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement).
(2) When the third party located in a foreign country has established a system conforming to the standards required under the APPI (including when certified under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) System). In such case, the Company shall take necessary and appropriate measures to ensure continuous implementation of such system, and provide information on such measures upon request by the User. - The Company provides Personal Data to foreign third parties and, pursuant to Article 28, Paragraph 3 of the APPI and Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the Enforcement Regulations, takes necessary measures to ensure continuous implementation of equivalent measures by such third parties. Information on such measures will be provided upon request by contacting the inquiry desk set forth in Article 18.
Article 8. (Handling of Cookies)
- The Company uses cookies for the purposes of improving convenience and quality of the Services. The Company does not use cookies for the purpose of identifying specific individuals. For details on the use of cookies, please refer to the “ovice Cookie Policy.” Please note that if cookies are disabled, some functions of the Services may not be available.
Article 9. (Acquisition of Individual-Related Information from Third Parties)
- The Company may receive information related to Users (Individual-related Information) such as identifiers and behavioral history from third parties, and, by linking such information with Personal Information managed by the Company, may acquire it as Personal Information. Specifically, the Company may receive cookies, mobile advertising identifiers, e-mail addresses or telephone numbers (including those that have been irreversibly transformed), and other behavioral history, and use them in connection with Personal Information managed by the Company. In such cases, the Company shall handle the information appropriately as Personal Information within the scope necessary to achieve the purposes of use set forth in Article 3.
Article 10. (Notification, Disclosure, Correction, and Discontinuance of Use of Personal Data)
- The Company shall appropriately respond to requests from the User, pursuant to the APPI, regarding notification of the purposes of use, disclosure, correction, addition, or deletion of Personal Data, discontinuance of use or erasure of Personal Data, discontinuance of provision to third parties, or disclosure of records of provision to third parties, upon confirming that the request is from the User. Requests shall be made by contacting the inquiry desk set forth in Article 18. Please note that the Company may not be able to comply with requests if they do not satisfy the requirements under the APPI or if there are grounds under laws or regulations for refusal. A handling fee of 1,000 yen (excluding tax) per request will be charged for notification of purposes of use, disclosure, or disclosure of records of provision to third parties.
Article 11. (Security Control Measures)
- The Company shall take necessary and appropriate measures to prevent leakage, loss, or damage of Personal Data, and manage such data appropriately. The Company shall supervise its employees as necessary and appropriate to ensure the secure management of Personal Data, and, where the handling of Personal Data is entrusted to third parties, the Company shall supervise such third parties as necessary and appropriate to ensure the secure management of Personal Data. The Company shall periodically collect and understand information on the personal information protection systems of foreign countries when handling Personal Data in such countries, and take necessary security control measures accordingly. The Company uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to encrypt communications in providing the Services. SSL prevents theft or falsification of data by third parties by encrypting and authenticating communications between the browser and the web server.
Article 12. (Retention Period of Personal Information)
- The Company shall retain Personal Information acquired only for the period necessary to achieve the purposes of use or as required by laws and regulations. After the purposes of use have been achieved or the statutory retention period has expired, the Company shall promptly delete or dispose of Personal Information and related devices or electronic media in an appropriate manner.
Article 13. (Handling of Personal Information of Minors)
- If the User is under 18 years of age, the consent of the User’s parent or legal guardian is required to use the Services in accordance with this Privacy Policy, the ovice Terms of Use. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company becomes aware that it has acquired Personal Information of a User under the age of 18 without such consent, the Company shall contact the User and either obtain consent from the parent or legal guardian, or take appropriate measures such as discontinuance of use or erasure of such information. In such cases, the User may no longer be able to use the Services, and the Company shall not be liable for such unavailability.
Article 14. (Scope of the Policy)
- This Policy does not apply to business partners, subcontractors, or linked websites operated by parties other than the Company. The Company shall not be responsible for any issues arising in such cases. Please review the privacy policies of each such site.
Article 15. (Amendment of the Policy)
- The Company shall review the operational status of the handling of Personal Information from time to time and strive for continuous improvement. Accordingly, this Policy may be updated from time to time, and the latest version shall always be posted on the Services. The Company shall notify the User of any material changes through notifications within the Services or other appropriate means. Except as otherwise provided by the Company, this Policy shall become effective from the date of revision stated herein. The User shall be deemed to have consented to the amended Policy by continuing to use the Services after such amendment, provided that where required by applicable laws, the Company shall obtain separate consent from the User.
Article 16. (Compliance with Laws and Regulations)
- The Company shall comply with applicable Japanese laws and regulations relating to Personal Information, the Telecommunications Business Act regarding the secrecy of communications, and the Guidelines for the Protection of Personal Information in Telecommunications Business, as well as other relevant rules and regulations.
Article 17. (Address and Representative of the Company)
- Address: E 113-B, Motofuchu-machi, Nanao-shi, Ishikawa, Japan
- Name of Representative: Sae Hyung Jung
Article 18. (Contact for Inquiries)
- For questions or complaints regarding the handling of Personal Information by the Company, please contact the following inquiry desk:
Contact regarding Personal Information
Revision History
Established and enforced on October 1, 2020
Revised on November 15, 2021
Revised on April 1, 2022
Revised on June 9, 2022
Revised on March 31, 2023
Revised on June 14, 2023
Revised on September 1, 2023
Revised on June 17, 2024
Revised on December 25, 2025
Revised on October 27, 2026
