At Tools from Japan we...

...we could cut and paste a generic privacy statement here, but they tend to be quite long, drawn out and written in legalese which is not interesting to write and less interesting to read. Because of that, most privacy statements are not very useful because most people won't read them.

In an effort to keep it simple and of a form that you will read, here is our home grown privacy statement.

We at Tools from Japan do take your privacy very seriously. Because you may give us information about yourself, we have an obligation to make sure that this information is not available to anyone or anything that doesn't need to know it.

What information will we collect?

Only what we need to collect, nothing more. The site www.toolsfromjapan.com may place small files on your computer called 'cookies'. They are used to let us know when you return and help make the site more friendly. Cookies only work on the site that issued them and you can refuse to accept them if you wish. They identify your computer, but they themselves don't keep any information that identifies you as 'you'.

Cookies help us make the site nicer to use, that's all. Our cookies are identified as coming from toolsfromjapan.com so if you wish to remove them from your web browser's record, they should be easy to find.

If you sign up for an account, then we may collect more personal information about you such as your name, gender, postal address, email address, date of birth and telephone number. We will not ask for more information than that at this point, so please don't tell us any more, we don't need to know! If you do decide to sign up for an account, then the cookies we mentioned above will identify you as 'you' when you return. It's not malicious, it is trying to be helpful and friendly. Again, you can choose to not sign up if you wish (but we hope you will).

What do we do with your information?

The information you send to us will not be sold, shared, divulged, misplaced, thrown away, lost or otherwise mishandled by us. We will do everything possible to make sure that nobody and nothing will have access to that information that doesn't need it. We at Tools from Japan may need these details if you order something from us, we need to know where to send your order. The delivery service you choose needs to know your postal address and name so they know where to send your order for us.

That's where your information goes when you give it to us, and that's where it stops too.

However, if something goes wrong, then we may be required to share some of this information if we are asked by sufficiently identified and verified law enforcement officers and legal representatives.

If something goes really wrong and the information you have sent to us falls into the wrong hands, we will tell you as soon as we know it has occurred, as well as informing the appropriate authorities. If this happens, it is theft and we will treat it as such.

How do we keep your information safe?

Your personal information that you give to us is kept private through physical and electronic means. We keep all physical copies of any data secure from access by anyone who does not need to access it. The data is encrypted, and kept where it cannot be easily accessed electronically.

We also take measures to minimize the chance that someone may stumble across your information by practicing sensible data management and online security procedures making it very difficult for anyone to just happen upon your information and equally difficult for someone to dig it up. We can't say that we will never lose it, but we will do everything we can to make sure it stays safe.

Currently, all transactions will be handled by Paypal whether you have an account with them or use a credit or debit card. We don't need to know any of these details, so don't tell us, tell Paypal. While we are here, when you are at that stage of the checkout process please make sure that you are actually connected to Paypal through a secure connection. Check the URL address on your browser, look for the little padlock and check Paypal's own privacy and security policies.

There is also the question of you keeping your own information private on the internet...

The world wide web is a dangerous place, and if you don't take measures to protect yourself from the dangers, then there is nothing we at Tools from Japan can do to keep your data safe and secure.

To keep yourself safe, you will need to make sure you use an up to date operating system, web browser and email software. Up to date means that the latest security 'patches' are installed and that the software you use is still current, i.e; new security patches are still being released.

After that, you may need to use some extra layers of protection like anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware programs that monitor your computer and check to make sure it is doing what it should be doing.

What additional programs you will need to use depends greatly on your operating system be it Windows, Mac OS, Linux or something else. All can be made secure, some need less help than others.

The final link in the chain is you, and how you protect your own information. By taking care of where you send your personal details, they are unlikely to end up somewhere they shouldn't be. By using secure passwords you will reduce the chance that someone may guess your password and access your account. By using software intended to keep your computer secure and using it correctly, it is less likely that your personal information can be stolen from you.

It is possible to stay safe on the internet, but you do need to take precautions and act sensibly.

 

There it is, our privacy statement at Tools from Japan. It is a little longer than expected, but I hope that you will have read it all so it can serve it's purpose.

This statement is subject to change at any time for any reason, and this version was written in May 2009.

 

An addendum, from August 2010.

Well, it is now 15 months since this was written and put up here, how time flies when you are having fun. But it has not all been smooth sailing. The site has been brought down a few times (all beyond my control) and hacked once.

But the statement above still holds true, we have not lost any important information that we are aware of, and the information trusted to us has remained secure. The software used is as up to date as is possible, and regular backups are made to ensure that nothing unsavory is occurring with your information.

I hope, wish and pray that nothing untoward occurs, and yet keep working toward making sure that nothing actually does happen...

 

Second Addendum, March 2015.

To the absolute best of our knowledge, the security of our customer's information is still safe and uncompromised. Since the store was started, the main change is that it is now hosted on fully PCI compliant servers which mandates that software be up to date, backup records are kept (and kept in a secure location) and that certain operational protocols are adhered to so as to prevent security holes in both the online and actual world.

And we still don't share your information with anyone, for any reason.