Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 9, 2026

Who We Are

Japan Unlocked (https://japan-unlocked.pages.dev) is a travel blog providing Japan travel tips, guides, and recommendations for American travelers. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our website and related services, including integrations with third-party platforms such as Pinterest.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Email address (if you contact us or subscribe to our newsletter)
• Comments or messages you send us

Automatically Collected Information

• Basic analytics data (page views, referring pages)
• Cookies for essential site functionality and authentication

Information Collected Through Pinterest Integration

When you connect your Pinterest account to our service via OAuth, we may access the following data based on the permissions (scopes) you grant:

• Account Information (user_accounts:read): Your Pinterest username, profile name, and profile image
• Board Data (boards:read): Names and descriptions of your public boards
• Pin Data (pins:read): Information about your public pins, including images, descriptions, and links

We only request the minimum permissions necessary to provide our service. You will be shown the specific permissions requested during the Pinterest authorization process, and you may choose to deny access at any time.

What We Do NOT Collect:

• We do not collect your Pinterest password
• We do not access your private or secret boards unless you explicitly grant that permission
• We do not access your direct messages on Pinterest

How We Use Your Information

General Use

• To respond to your inquiries
• To improve our content and user experience
• To send newsletter updates (only if you subscribe)

Pinterest Data Use

We use data accessed through the Pinterest API solely for the following purposes:

• To display your pins and boards within our service as requested by you
• To provide Pinterest-related features on our website (such as content recommendations and pin scheduling)
• To analyze the performance of content shared on Pinterest

We do not use Pinterest data for:

• Advertising or ad targeting
• Building user profiles for purposes unrelated to our service
• Any purpose not disclosed in this policy

Data Storage and Retention

General Data

Personal information you provide (such as email addresses) is stored securely and retained only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy.

Pinterest API Data

In accordance with Pinterest’s Developer Guidelines:

• We do not permanently store data obtained through the Pinterest API. We retrieve data via API calls each time it is needed.
• OAuth access tokens are stored securely using encryption and are used solely to authenticate API requests on your behalf.
• Access tokens expire after 30 days. Refresh tokens are valid for up to 1 year.
• Upon disconnection or revocation of access, all tokens and associated cached data are deleted promptly.

Data Sharing and Third Parties

We Do Not Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade any personal information or Pinterest data to third parties.

We Do Not Share Pinterest API Data

In compliance with Pinterest’s Developer and API Terms of Service, we do not share information obtained through the Pinterest API with any third party, including advertising services.

Third-Party Services We Use

We may use the following third-party services in the operation of our website:

Cookies

We use cookies for:

• Essential cookies: Required for basic site functionality
• Authentication cookies: Used during the Pinterest OAuth login flow to maintain your session
• Affiliate cookies: Set by affiliate partners when you click referral links (subject to the partner’s cookie policy)

We do not use cookies for behavioral advertising or cross-site tracking.

Affiliate Links

This site contains affiliate links to services including Booking.com, Amazon, GetYourGuide, Klook, and others. When you click these links:

• The affiliate partner may use cookies to track the referral
• You may be subject to the partner’s own privacy policy
• We earn a commission at no additional cost to you

Your Rights

General Rights

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of any personal data we hold about you
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data
• Opt-out: Unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal data

Pinterest-Specific Rights

If you have connected your Pinterest account to our service, you have the right to:

• Disconnect: Revoke our access to your Pinterest account at any time by visiting your Pinterest App Settings and removing our application
• Data Deletion: Request that we delete all data associated with your Pinterest account by contacting us at the email below
• Scope Limitation: You may limit the permissions granted to our application during the OAuth authorization process

Upon disconnection, we will delete your access tokens and any cached Pinterest data within 24 hours.

For California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• The right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared, or sold
• The right to delete personal information held by us
• The right to opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell your data)
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights

For EU/EEA Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• The right to access, rectify, or erase your personal data
• The right to restrict or object to processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to withdraw consent at any time
• The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

Our legal basis for processing your data is: (a) your consent, (b) the performance of a contract with you, or (c) our legitimate interests in operating and improving our service.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encryption of OAuth tokens and sensitive data
• HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted to and from our website
• Regular review of our data collection, storage, and processing practices

While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children’s Privacy

Our service is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

Contact

For privacy-related questions, data access requests, or to exercise any of your rights described in this policy, contact us at:

Email: hello@japanunlocked.com

We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within 30 days.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. If we make significant changes that affect how we handle your Pinterest data, we will notify affected users via email or through our service.