Privacy Policy

Who we are

Our website address is: https://thewaytojapan.com.

At theWaytoJapan.com, created by Vanessa Villalobos (hereafter known as we, us), we are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of visitors to this web site. In particular, we want you to know that we are not in the business of selling, renting or trading email lists with other companies and businesses for marketing purposes. That’s simply not ok.

However, aside from using good judgement there is now a legal requirement to provide you with a detailed privacy policy so that you are clear on when and why we collect your personal information, how we use it and how we keep it secure. This is that policy. Strap in and read on…

Types of Data We Collect

Website Cookies

A “cookie” is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit. Cookies can also be used to analyse traffic and for advertising and marketing purposes.

Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system.

If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.

How do we use cookies?

We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and / or services in response to what you might need or want.

Cookies are either:

– Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or

– Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again.

Cookies can also be categorised as follows:

– Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.

– Performance cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.

Who we share your data with

Google Analytics

When someone visits this website we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site.

This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

Mailing Lists

As part of the registration process for our e-newsletter, we collect personal information that you have freely given us (this is usually limited to your name and email address). We use that information to send rather irregular newsletters to tell you about stuff relating to learning Japanese; awesome Japanese stuff in London; to contact you if we need to obtain or provide additional information; to check our records are right and to check every now and then that you’re happy and satisfied.

We don’t rent or trade email lists with other organisations and businesses. That would be shady!

We use a third-party processor, Sendy, to deliver our e-newsletter. We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. For more information, please see Sendy’s privacy notice. You can unsubscribe to these mailings at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any of our emails or by emailing me directly. I won’t take offence.

Dubsado

The information which you freely submit to us via contact forms, as well as proposals, contracts and invoices is managed through the Dubsado CRM system. A client relationship management system allows automation of email responses, allows online scheduling of appointments, and generates key documents.

Third Parties

We do not share your data with any third parties, but as stated above we use Sendy as our mailing list delivery service, Dubsado for CRM, and Google analytics to figure out how clever our marketing has been.

Access to Your Personal Information

We have the necessary procedures in place to be able to protect individuals’ data and to deal with their requests, as per the requirements of GDPR. You are entitled to view, amend, or delete the personal information that we hold.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

This policy was last updated on 24th July 2021.