Privacy notice

Who we are

risujapan.com runs this website, the Japanese lessons and the Risu Japan Podcast, and operates from the United Kingdom. For data protection law we are the controller of any personal information you give us here. To ask about it, email operations@risujapan.com.

What we collect, and why

We only collect what you type into one of the three forms on this site. Nothing is gathered in the background.

• Contact formYour name, email address, subject and message, so we can read and reply to your enquiry.
• Listener question formThe name you would like read out, where you are listening from, your question and, if you choose, an email address. Your name, location and question may be read out on an episode. The email address never is, and is only used to reply if your question does not make it onto the show.
• Podcast guest applicationYour name, email address, where you grew up and live, how confident you are in each language, a little about yourself, an optional link to your online profile, your topic ideas, availability and notes, and the permissions you tick. We use these to decide whether the show is a good fit, to arrange a recording and to keep a record of what you agreed to.

Our lawful basis for the contact and listener question forms is our legitimate interest in answering the people who write to us. For guest applications it is the steps you ask us to take towards arranging an episode, together with the consents you give on the form, which you can withdraw at any time before an episode is published.

How the forms are processed

The forms are handled by Formspree, Inc., which receives what you submit, stores it in our Formspree account and emails it to us. Formspree acts on our instructions as our processor. It is based in the United States, so your submission leaves the UK; that transfer is covered by Formspree’s data processing agreement, which includes the standard contractual clauses and UK addendum recognised under UK law. Formspree also records the IP address a submission came from, for spam prevention. Its own notice is at formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy (opens in a new tab).

How long we keep it

• Contact messages and listener questions: until the matter is dealt with, and no longer than twelve months after you sent them.
• Guest applications we do not take forward: deleted within twelve months.
• Guest applications that lead to an episode: kept for as long as the episode is published, because they record the permissions the episode relies on.

Who else sees it

Only the hosts and Formspree. We do not sell or share your information with anyone else, except where the law requires it. Anything you agree to have published, such as a listener question or a guest episode, is public once it is released.

Cookies and other services

This site sets no cookies of its own and uses no analytics. Episode pages embed the audio player from our podcast host, Transistor, which may set its own cookies when you play an episode. The podcast page embeds the trailer’s video from YouTube in its privacy-enhanced mode, which may set cookies when you play it. Lesson bookings take you to Calendly, and the podcast’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, Instagram and Patreon pages are run by those companies. Each has its own privacy notice. Like most websites, our hosting keeps routine server logs, including IP addresses, for security, for a short period.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, and withdraw any consent you have given. Email operations@risujapan.com and we will respond within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk (opens in a new tab).

Changes to this notice

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and the date at the top.