Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Journal Impact Forecast is operated by Waka Iwata in Japan.

For the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, Waka Iwata is the operator responsible for determining how the data is used.

Contact: support@journalimpactforecast.com

Our business address is available without delay upon request sent to the email address above.

2. Data we collect

We collect only data reasonably needed to provide, secure, and administer the Service.

Account and authentication data

• email address;
• authentication credentials required to secure your account; and
• account creation, login, and account-status information.

Passwords are handled through our authentication provider using appropriate hashing and security measures. We do not store readable plain-text passwords.

Subscription and payment data

• subscription status;
• renewal date and expected renewal amount;
• cancellation, payment-failure, refund, and access status;
• Stripe Customer ID, Subscription ID, and payment or refund references; and
• transaction and invoice information needed for accounting, support, fraud prevention, and legal compliance.

Stripe processes your card information. We do not receive or store your complete card number.

Service data

If you use the relevant features, we may store:

• saved Journals;
• search conditions;
• comparison selections;
• preferences; and
• other account settings.

Technical and security data

• IP address;
• browser and device information;
• access date and time;
• pages accessed;
• authentication and security events; and
• information indicating automated access, abuse, or technical errors.

Support data

We retain the contents of inquiries, related account information, and our response history.

3. How we use data

We use personal data only as reasonably necessary to:

• create and authenticate accounts;
• provide free and paid features;
• process payments and administer subscriptions;
• display renewal, cancellation, and access status;
• send purchase, renewal, payment, security, legal, and support communications;
• prevent fraud, account sharing, scraping, abuse, and security incidents;
• investigate technical problems;
• respond to inquiries and rights requests;
• comply with accounting, tax, consumer-protection, and other legal obligations; and
• improve the reliability, security, and usability of the Service.

Depending on the applicable law, these activities are based on performance of the user contract, compliance with legal obligations, our legitimate interests in operating and protecting the Service, or consent where consent is required.

We do not use personal data for third-party advertising and do not send promotional newsletters without separate consent.

4. Cookies

At launch, the Service uses only cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for authentication, account security, subscription access, and essential operation.

We do not use Google Analytics, third-party advertising cookies, or other non-essential analytics cookies at launch.

If we introduce non-essential analytics or advertising technologies, we will update this Privacy Policy and obtain cookie consent where required before activating them.

5. Service providers

We use the following service providers:

• Stripe: payment processing and subscription management;
• Supabase: authentication and database hosting;
• Vercel: website hosting, delivery, and technical infrastructure; and
• Sakura Internet: domain and support email infrastructure.

These providers may process personal data only as needed to provide their services, secure their systems, comply with law, and perform their own legal obligations.

We may also disclose data where required by law, necessary to protect users or the Service, or necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We do not sell personal data and do not provide it to third parties for their advertising.

6. International processing

Personal data may be processed or stored in Japan, the United States, and other countries in which our service providers operate.

Data-protection laws in those countries may differ from the law of your residence. Where applicable law requires a transfer mechanism, contractual protection, notice, or consent, we will use the required measure.

Information about the applicable provider or transfer arrangement may be requested at support@journalimpactforecast.com.

7. Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above.

Our ordinary retention periods are:

• Account information: until the account is deleted;
• Deleted-account backups: up to 90 days;
• Access and security logs: up to 12 months;
• Support records: up to 3 years; and
• Payment, accounting, and tax records: for the period required by law, ordinarily no longer than 7 years.

We may retain specific records for longer where reasonably necessary for an active dispute, fraud investigation, legal hold, or other legal obligation.

8. Account deletion

When you delete your account:

• automatic renewal is canceled;
• access to the Service ends;
• account information under our control is deleted or de-identified; and
• data in backups may remain for up to 90 days before being removed through the ordinary backup cycle.

We may retain records necessary for accounting, tax, refunds, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, security, and legal compliance.

Stripe may retain payment and customer information in accordance with its own legal obligations and Privacy Policy. Account deletion does not necessarily delete all records held independently by Stripe or make every payment record anonymous.

9. Your rights

Depending on applicable law, you may have the right to:

• request access to personal data held about you;
• request correction of inaccurate data;
• request deletion or restriction of processing;
• object to certain processing;
• request data portability;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
• complain to an applicable data-protection authority.

To make a request, email support@journalimpactforecast.com from your registered email address. We may request reasonable information to verify your identity.

We will respond within the period required by applicable law. These requests are ordinarily free, although applicable law may permit a reasonable charge for manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repeated requests.

10. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the nature of the data, including encrypted transmission, access controls, protected authentication credentials, restricted administrative access, service-provider oversight, logging, and backup controls.

No online system can guarantee absolute security. If a data incident occurs, we will investigate and provide any notification required by applicable law.

11. Children

The Service is intended for researchers who have legal capacity to create an account and enter into a subscription.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from a person who lacks the legal capacity to use the Service without required parental or guardian authorization.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the Service, providers, data use, or applicable law.

Material changes will be communicated by email or through a prominent notice before they take effect where required.

13. Contact

Operator: Waka Iwata

Service: Journal Impact Forecast

Email: support@journalimpactforecast.com