Privacy policy
HOKKAIDian Homestead respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and how you can control it, in line with Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI).
1. Who we are
- Business
- HOKKAIDian Homestead
- Address
- 19-1 Shimonkecho, Date, Hokkaido 052-0001, Japan
- Representative
- Ian Fong
- Contact
- info@hokkaidian.com · 080-3294-1969
2. What we collect
Information you give us through the booking and contact form, by email or by phone:
- name, email address and phone number;
- booking details: number of adults and children (by age group), preferred dates;
- allergies or dietary restrictions (see section 4);
- the content of your message.
Technical information recorded automatically by our web server when you visit the site: IP address, browser type, pages requested and time of access. These server logs are kept by our hosting provider for security and troubleshooting and are deleted after a short period.
Spam protection: our form uses ALTCHA, a privacy-friendly check that runs a small calculation in your browser. It uses no cookies and does not identify or track you.
3. How we use your information
- to answer your enquiries and to confirm, prepare and manage your booking;
- to prepare meals safely for you and your party;
- to contact you about your booking (for example changes, or weather-related information);
- to keep our website secure and working;
- to meet legal obligations, such as accounting and tax records.
We do not use your information for any other purpose without your consent, and we never sell it.
4. Allergies and dietary information
Allergy information may be considered health-related, "special care-required personal information" under the APPI. We only collect it if you choose to give it to us, we use it only to prepare your meal safely, and we delete it once your visit is complete. By entering it in the form, you consent to this use.
5. Service providers and transfers outside Japan
We use a few trusted providers to run the website and handle bookings. They process information on our behalf:
- cyon GmbH (Switzerland): website hosting and sending form emails.
- Google LLC (United States): Google Forms and Google Sheets, where booking requests are recorded, and our email (Google Workspace).
- Block, Inc. / Square (United States): only if you buy a gift card through our Square shop, under Square's own privacy policy.
This means your information is stored in Switzerland and the United States. Switzerland protects personal data under its Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). The United States has no single comprehensive federal privacy law; protection there comes from sector-specific and state laws and from the provider's own security measures and contractual commitments. Both providers apply measures such as encryption and access control. For information on the data protection systems of other countries, see the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan.
By sending our form, you consent to your information being provided to these providers outside Japan for the purposes above.
6. Sharing with third parties
We do not provide your personal information to third parties, except to the service providers above, with your consent, or where required by law (for example, at the request of public authorities).
7. Security and retention
The website uses encrypted connections (HTTPS). Access to booking information is limited to the owners of HOKKAIDian Homestead, and we take reasonable measures to prevent loss, misuse or unauthorised access. We keep booking and enquiry information only as long as needed for the purposes above, and accounting records for the period required by Japanese law.
8. Cookies, analytics and external links
This website does not use cookies, analytics, advertising or tracking tools. Our fonts are hosted on our own server, so visiting the site sends no information to font services. Links to Instagram, Facebook, Google Maps, Google Reviews and Square take you to those services, which have their own privacy policies.
9. Your rights
Under the APPI you may ask us to disclose the personal information we hold about you and records of its provision to third parties, and to correct, add to, delete, or stop using or providing it. Contact us at info@hokkaidian.com. We will verify your identity and respond without undue delay, free of charge. Visitors from the EU, UK or Switzerland have equivalent rights under their local laws and may contact us in the same way.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also contact the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan.
10. Changes and contact
We may update this policy when our services or the law change. The latest version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated. Questions about privacy: info@hokkaidian.com.