Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data yuzu.help ("we", "us" or "our") collects when you use yuzu.help and its tools (the "Service"), why we use it, which providers process it for us and how long we keep it. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here.

Data controller contact: info@yuzu.help.

Most of the data below is information you give us when you use a feature. The rest is measured automatically while you use the site.

Information you give us

• Account — if you create an account, your email address, your password (stored hashed by Supabase), your display name and, if you add one, an avatar. We also store what you save in your dashboard: plans, budgets, checklists, bookmarks, reading history, event reminders and your onboarding answers. The same account works on map.yuzu.help.
• Yuzu Times — our only newsletter, optional and with no account needed. We store your email address, edition language, chosen topics, a record of your consent (when and where you signed up) and a log of the emails we send you. Nothing is sent until you click the link in the confirmation email. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link, and addresses that bounce or report spam are never emailed again.
• Email me this budget — your email address, the budget configuration you send and your IP address. The IP address is deleted after 30 days and the record after 24 months. If you tick the optional box, you also sign up for Yuzu Times, which still has to be confirmed from the email we send you.
• Yuzu Academy waitlist — your email address, language and IP address. We send you one email when the Academy opens. The IP address is deleted after 30 days and the entry after 24 months.
• Contact form — your name, email address, phone number (optional), subject, message and IP address. The IP address is deleted after 30 days and the message after 24 months.
• Ask yuzu — the question you type is sent to OpenAI to generate the answer. We store the question with a hashed IP address for up to 12 months and use it to improve our guides and FAQ. Please leave personal details out of your questions.
• Audio playback — when you play audio, for example for a Japanese phrase, the text is sent to OpenAI to produce the audio.
• Feedback buttons — your yes/no vote on whether an article or FAQ answer was helpful is stored without any personal data.

Information we measure automatically

• Vercel Web Analytics — pages visited, browser type and device type, measured without cookies. It is always on.
• First-party event log — when you open a common question, start the Path Finder, use a tool, click save or sign up, we record the event name and its category ids (for example "pathfinder_complete" with the path you chose) in our own database. Each event is stored with a salted hash of your IP address, your browser family (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge or other) and, if you accepted analytics cookies, your pseudonymous visitor id (see below). If you are signed in, the event is also linked to your account. Events do not contain your email address, document contents or the figures you enter in the budget tools. We keep them for 12 months, use them only in aggregate, and remove any raw IP address from a record after 30 days.
• Visitor id — only after you accept analytics cookies, a random, pseudonymous id is stored in your browser's localStorage so we can count returning visitors and see whether a feature helps. It is deleted if you later decline analytics cookies.
• Experiment assignment — when we compare two versions of a page, the version your browser was given is stored in localStorage so you keep seeing the same one. It contains no identifier and works whether or not you accepted analytics cookies.
• Google Analytics 4 — only if you click "Accept" in the cookie banner, Google Tag Manager loads Google Analytics 4, which measures page views and interactions. Google Signals, advertising features and ad personalisation are switched off, and no data is collected before you accept.
• Microsoft Clarity — only if you click "Accept", Clarity records how pages are scrolled and clicked (heatmaps and session replays) so we can find confusing layouts. Form fields are masked. The Ask yuzu box, the budget and CV tools, the contact and login forms, your dashboard and the admin area are masked or excluded, so what you type there is never recorded.
• Security — we use your IP address to limit how many requests can come from one address in a short time, which protects the site from abuse. Upstash keeps these counters for a few minutes and at most one day.

We do not sell your data, use advertising trackers, or share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

• To run your account and the features you use (dashboard, saved plans, budgets, reminders) on yuzu.help and map.yuzu.help.
• To send the emails you ask for: account emails, confirmations, your budget, event reminders, the Yuzu Academy opening email and Yuzu Times (only after you confirm your subscription).
• To answer your Ask yuzu questions and contact messages.
• To improve our guides and FAQ, using the questions people ask and aggregate usage data.
• To protect the Service from abuse and keep it secure.

Your data is stored in Supabase (EU region) subject to Supabase's security standards. We use row-level security (RLS) policies so each user can only access their own data. All data is transmitted over HTTPS.

How long we keep your data:

• Account data — until you delete your account.
• Yuzu Times — until you unsubscribe. Sign-ups that are never confirmed are deleted after 30 days.
• Ask yuzu questions — 12 months.
• Contact messages — 24 months.
• Budget emails and Yuzu Academy waitlist entries — 24 months.
• IP addresses — 30 days on budget emails, Yuzu Academy waitlist sign-ups and contact messages; from a few minutes up to one day for rate limiting.
• Analytics events — 12 months.
• Unfinished plan saves — 30 days (an item you asked to save before signing in, if the save was never completed).

Under applicable data protection laws (including GDPR where applicable), you can access, correct and delete your data, receive a copy of it and object to its use. Here is how:

• Download your data — use "Download my data" in your dashboard settings to get a copy of your data.
• Delete your account — in your dashboard settings. This removes your account and the data linked to it: your profile, plans, budgets, bookmarks, reading history, reminders, Yuzu Times subscription, budget email and Yuzu Academy sign-ups and contact messages made with your email address, and any avatar you uploaded.
• Correct your data — change your display name and avatar in your dashboard settings, or ask us to correct anything else.
• Unsubscribe — opt out of any of our emails at any time. Every Yuzu Times email has an unsubscribe link.
• Withdraw consent — change your analytics cookie choice at any time (see section 7).

For anything else, contact us at info@yuzu.help.

These service providers process data for us:

• Supabase — database, authentication and file storage (such as avatars).
• Vercel — hosting and cookieless analytics (Vercel Web Analytics).
• Resend — sends all our emails: account emails, confirmations, the budget email, reminders and Yuzu Times.
• OpenAI — generates Ask yuzu answers from your question and produces text-to-speech audio.
• Upstash — rate limiting based on IP addresses.
• Google — Analytics 4 and Tag Manager, only after you accept analytics cookies. Advertising features are switched off.
• Microsoft — Clarity heatmaps and session replays, only after you accept analytics cookies. Clarity data is not shared with Microsoft Advertising.

Some of these providers are based in the United States, so your data may be processed outside Türkiye and the EU/EEA.

We use strictly necessary session cookies to keep you signed in, and the same sign-in works on map.yuzu.help. If you don't visit for 30 days, the session ends and you sign in again. Your cookie choice is stored in your browser's localStorage.

A few more strictly necessary cookies are short-lived. yt_manage (one hour) lets a Yuzu Times confirmation or preferences page know which subscription to show. yuzu_pending (7 days) remembers the item you asked to save before signing in, and yuzu_saved (5 minutes) shows the "Saved to My Japan Plan" confirmation once.

Analytics cookies are set only after you accept them in the banner. These are Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*) and Microsoft Clarity (_clck, _clsk, plus Clarity's own cookies on clarity.ms). Choosing "Essential only" keeps them off, and withdrawing consent later tells Clarity to erase its cookies. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

Changed your mind? Open cookie settings to accept or withdraw analytics cookies at any time.

yuzu.help is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. We accept no liability for errors or omissions in content. Nothing on this site constitutes legal or financial advice. Users rely on information at their own risk.

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance.

Questions about this policy? Reach us at info@yuzu.help.