Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated September 2026.
Who is responsible for your data
[legal entity name], of [registered address], is responsible for the personal information collected through Japanese Ceramics. For anything on this page, including a request to see or delete your data, write to contact@japanese-ceramics.com.
What we collect, and why
When you order. Your name, email address, telephone number, shipping address and country, what you bought, what you paid, the shipping method, any discount code used, and the currency and exchange rate you were shown. We need these to take the order, ship it, deal with customs, answer you about it afterwards and keep our accounts.
When you make an account. Your name, email address and a password, which is stored only as an Argon2 hash: we cannot read it, and neither can anyone who obtains the file. Your saved pieces and your order history sit against that account.
When you enquire. Whatever you put in the contact form, which is usually your name, email address and what you are looking for.
When you subscribe. Your email address, and nothing else, and only if you asked to be on the list.
While you browse. Our host records the usual server log information, including your IP address, browser and the pages requested, which is what lets us see that the site is working and spot abuse.
We do not collect more than this, and we never see or store your card number: that is entered on the payment provider's own pages.
Who else sees it
Only where they need it to do a job for us:
- Our payment provider takes the payment and receives your name, email address and the amount. It gives us back only whether the payment succeeded.
- The carrier receives your name, address and telephone number, because those go on the label, and a customs declaration describing the contents and their value.
- Our email provider handles order, verification and password messages, so it processes your email address and what the message says.
- Our hosting provider, [hosting provider], stores the site and its data on our behalf.
- Google Analytics, but only if you accept the cookie banner, and only if analytics has been switched on for this site. It is configured to anonymise IP addresses.
We do not sell your data, we do not trade it, and we do not hand it to anyone for their own marketing. We will disclose it if the law requires us to.
Cookies
- A session cookie, which is what keeps your basket and your login working. Without it the shop cannot function.
cur, which remembers the currency you chose to see prices in.jc_cookie_ok, which remembers that you accepted the cookie banner, so it stops appearing.- Analytics cookies, only after you accept the banner, and only if analytics is switched on. Nothing analytical loads before you accept.
Your basket and saved pieces are also kept in your browser's own storage so they survive a reload. That data stays on your device.
If a form on the site is protected against spam by a captcha, that service sets its own cookies and applies its own privacy terms when the form is shown.
How long we keep it
Order records are kept for [how long you must keep sales records], because tax and accounting rules require it, and we cannot delete an order inside that period even if you ask. Account details are kept until you ask us to close the account. Enquiries are kept for [how long you keep enquiries]. A newsletter subscription is kept until you unsubscribe, which you can do from the bottom of any message we send.
Your rights
Write to contact@japanese-ceramics.com and you can ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it where we are not required to keep it, ask us to stop sending you marketing, or object to how we are using it. We will answer, and we will not charge you for asking.
Which data protection law applies depends on where we are registered and where you are. [Name the law that applies to you, and the authority a customer can complain to.] If you are in the United Kingdom or the European Union you also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, passwords are hashed rather than stored, admin access is restricted and card details never reach our systems at all. No website can promise perfect security, but if a breach ever affected your data we would tell you.
Children
This shop is not aimed at children and we do not knowingly collect data about anyone under 16. If you believe we have, write to contact@japanese-ceramics.com and we will delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of the page, and if the change matters we will say so more loudly than that.