Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Website and the App are operated by Global Transformation Forum ("GTF", "we", "us"). GTF is handling personal information under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information ("APPI") and, where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") applies, the controller of your personal data. Contact for all privacy matters: info@gtf.jp (subject line: "Privacy").

2. What This Policy Covers

• Website gtf.jp — open to anyone.

• Enquiry and subscription forms on the Website — used by people who contact us or subscribe.

• The App, including speaker chat — used only by confirmed Forum speakers, moderators and GTF staff. Access is by invitation; there is no public sign-up.

The App is a closed tool. Access is granted only to people whose email address is on GTF's confirmed speaker list. If your email is not on that list, the App cannot be used and no account is created.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Give Us

• Enquiries: name, email address, organisation, role, enquiry type and the content of your message.

• Subscriptions: email address and, if provided, name and organisation.

• Speaker information: name, title, organisation, biography and photograph, which you provide for the Forum programme. With your agreement, these are published on the Website and in the App.

• App account: email address, name, title, organisation and an optional profile photo.

• Chat content: messages, files and images you send in the App chat, with time stamps and read status.

• Support requests: information you send when you ask us for help.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Website: IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, referring page and time of visit, recorded in our hosting provider's server logs. The Website does not use cookies, analytics or tracking tools; see our Cookie Policy.

• App: device model, operating system version, app version, a push-notification token (only if you allow notifications), and crash and performance diagnostics that do not identify you by name.

The App does not collect your precise or approximate location, contacts, photos library (except files you choose to send), health, financial or browsing data. The App does not track you across other companies' apps or websites and contains no advertising.

4. How and Why We Use Information

• To respond to enquiries and partnership, speaking or press requests, using enquiry data. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in running the Forum, and steps taken at your request before an arrangement.

• To send Forum news you subscribed to, using subscription data. Legal basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

• To prepare the programme and publish speaker profiles, using speaker information. Legal basis: performance of our arrangement with you, and your consent for photos.

• To verify your invitation and give you access to the App, using App account data. Legal basis: performance of our arrangement with you.

• To let speakers, moderators and GTF staff coordinate sessions via chat, using chat content. Legal basis: performance of our arrangement with you.

• To send App notifications about messages and schedule changes, using your push token. Legal basis: your consent (device permission).

• To keep the Website and App secure, prevent abuse and fix errors, using technical data and diagnostics. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in security.

• To comply with the law and respond to lawful requests, using any relevant data. Legal basis: legal obligation.

We do not use personal information for automated decision-making or profiling, and we do not use App chat content to train artificial intelligence models.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We share it only as follows:

• Other App users: your name, title, organisation, photo and chat messages are visible to the other participants of the chats you are in.

• Service providers who process data on our behalf under written agreements: cloud hosting and database services for the App and the Website, Google Workspace for email, and crash-reporting services. Push notifications are delivered through Apple Push Notification service and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging.

• Forum partners: only the speaker information you agreed to publish.

• Authorities: where required by law or to protect the rights, safety or property of GTF, users or others.

• Successor organisations: if GTF's activities are transferred, under the same protections described here.

Except for the cases above, we do not provide personal data to third parties without your prior consent, in line with APPI Article 27.

6. International Transfers

GTF is based in Japan. Our service providers store data in the United States and other countries where they operate. When personal information is transferred outside Japan, we do so in line with APPI Article 28: either the recipient maintains protections equivalent to the APPI under a contract with us, or we obtain your consent after informing you of the destination country, its data-protection system and the recipient's measures. You may ask us for details of these measures at any time.

For people in the EU and UK: Japan is covered by an EU adequacy decision and the UK equivalent. Transfers from GTF to providers in other countries rely on adequacy decisions or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

7. How Long We Keep Information

• App accounts, profiles, chat messages and files: deleted automatically within 90 days after the Forum ends, or within 2 business days if you request deletion of your account.

• Push tokens: deleted with your account, or when you disable notifications.

• App diagnostics: up to 90 days.

• Enquiries: up to 2 years after our last exchange.

• Subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.

• Published speaker profiles: until you ask us to remove them; otherwise kept in the Forum archive.

• Website server logs: up to 90 days.

Deleted data is removed from our systems immediately; we do not keep separate backups of App data. We may keep a limited record longer only where the law requires it.

8. How We Protect Information

We apply security measures required by APPI Article 23, including:

• Organisational: a designated person responsible for personal data; access only for staff who need it; written confidentiality obligations.

• Human: privacy and security guidance for staff and contractors.

• Physical: data stored in professionally managed data centres; no App data kept on unmanaged personal devices.

• Technical: encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest; invitation-only authentication; role-based access controls; access logging.

• External environment: where providers store data abroad, we check the data-protection system of that country (see section 6).

No system is completely secure. If a breach is likely to harm you, we will notify you and the competent authorities as the law requires.

9. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you have the right to:

• know whether we hold your data and get a copy of it (disclosure);

• correct, add to or delete inaccurate data;

• stop or restrict our use of your data, or ask us to stop providing it to third parties;

• receive records of data we provided to or received from third parties (APPI);

• object to processing based on legitimate interests;

• receive your data in a portable format (GDPR);

• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier processing.

To use these rights, email info@gtf.jp with the subject "Privacy request". We will verify your identity, then respond within 30 days (GDPR: within one month). We do not charge a fee. You may also complain to Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission (ppc.go.jp) or, in the EU or UK, to your local data protection authority.

10. Delete Your App Account and Data

App accounts are created by GTF from the confirmed speaker list; the App has no sign-up. You can ask us to delete your App account at any time by emailing info@gtf.jp from the address linked to your account, with the subject "Delete my GTF app account".

We delete your account within 2 business days of your request and confirm by email. Deletion removes your profile, your push token and your App diagnostics. Your chat messages are deleted or permanently anonymised as "Deleted user". In every case all App data is erased within 90 days after the Forum ends. Deleting your App account does not remove your public speaker profile on the Website; ask us separately if you want that removed.

11. Children

The Website and App are intended for adults. The App is available only to invited speakers aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy. We will post the new version on this page with a new "Last updated" date and, for material changes, notify App users in the App or by email.

13. Contact

Global Transformation Forum · Email: info@gtf.jp