Personal Information Protection Policy

We, Meros Consulting, provide market research, data analysis, consulting, and related services in the food and agriculture sectors in Japan and internationally. We recognize the appropriate protection of personal information handled in our business as an important responsibility and handle personal information in accordance with this Policy.

1 Compliance with laws and regulations

We comply with laws, regulatory guidance, and other applicable rules concerning personal information and privacy.

2 Fair collection and use

We collect personal information fairly and by appropriate means and identify the purposes of use as specifically as reasonably possible. Except where permitted by law, we use personal information only to the extent necessary for the purposes notified to the individual or publicly announced.

3 Third party disclosure and service providers

Except where permitted by law, we do not disclose personal data to a third party without the individual’s consent. When we engage a service provider to process personal data, we select the provider appropriately, require necessary safeguards through contracts or other measures, and supervise the provider’s handling of the data.

4 Security

We implement organizational, personnel, physical, and technical safeguards to prevent leakage, loss, or damage of personal data and otherwise manage it appropriately. If an incident occurs or may have occurred, we establish the facts and take necessary measures to contain the impact and prevent recurrence.

5 Individual rights and inquiries

We respond appropriately and promptly, in accordance with applicable law, to inquiries, complaints, and requests by individuals concerning our handling of personal information.

6 Training and accountability

We provide necessary training to officers, employees, and other personnel who handle personal information and define responsibilities and procedures for its handling.

7 Continuous improvement

We periodically review and improve our personal information management framework and safeguards in light of our handling practices and changes in law, society, and technology.

For details about our handling of personal information, purposes of use, cookies and external services, request procedures, and related matters, please see our separate Privacy Notice.

Company details and contact

Name Meros Consulting

Address ONO Building, 2F, 1-19-3 Kanda Awajicho, Chiyoda-ku 101-0063, Tokyo, JAPAN

Representative Chisa Ogura

Email  inquiries@merosconsulting.com 

Telephone +81 (0) 3-3526-2075

Meros Consulting (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) handles personal information collected through its business activities and website as described below.

1 Business operator

• Name  Meros Consulting
• Address ONO Building, 2F, 1-19-3 Kanda Awajicho, Chiyoda-ku 101-0063 Tokyo, JAPAN
• Representative  Chisa Ogura
• Person responsible for personal information management   Ayako Kuroki

2 Purposes of use

We use personal information for the following purposes. If we separately notify an individual of a purpose, the purposes also include that purpose.

Individuals or information concerned	Purposes
Clients, prospective clients, business partners, and their personnel	Responding to inquiries, discussions and proposals; entering into and administering contracts; conducting research, analysis and consulting; providing deliverables; invoicing and making payments; business communications; and relationship management
Survey and interview participants	Selecting and contacting participants; conducting surveys and interviews; recording and analyzing responses; paying compensation; preparing research results and deliverables; and reporting to the client
Individual analysts, external researchers, and other collaborators	Selecting and contacting candidates; contracting; commissioning work; conducting collaborative research; managing projects; reviewing deliverables; paying compensation; and relationship management
Event participants and job applicants	Providing information about and operating events; communicating with participants and conducting surveys; receiving applications; conducting selection; making hiring decisions; and completing onboarding
People who contact us	Responding to inquiries, communicating with the individual, arranging meetings, preparing proposals, and managing the response history
Website visitors	Providing and improving the website; understanding its use; troubleshooting faults; preventing unauthorized use, spam and cyberattacks; and displaying content
Personal information entrusted by a client	Performing contracted services in accordance with the contract and the client’s instructions
All of the above	Complying with legal obligations; responding to audits, rights requests, disputes and incidents; and protecting the rights and safety of the Company or others

If we change the purpose of use, the change will remain reasonably related to the original purpose, and we will provide notice or make a public announcement as required by law.

3 Collection

We collect personal information from individuals through documents, email, web forms, online meetings, telephone calls, business-card exchanges, surveys, interviews, events, recruitment processes, and other appropriate means. We may also obtain information from clients and other parties commissioning our services, business partners, external researchers, referring parties, public sources, or other third parties that lawfully provide the information.

If we collect sensitive information or other information subject to special protection, we confirm a lawful basis and obtain consent where required.

4 Third party disclosure and service providers

We do not disclose personal data to a third party without the individual’s consent, except where permitted by law. If we jointly use personal data, we separately notify individuals of, or publicly announce, the information required by law.

We may engage service providers for website operation, cloud services, email, analytics, research, translation, event operation, and other functions necessary to achieve the purposes of use. We select service providers appropriately, require necessary safeguards through contracts or other measures, and supervise their handling of personal data.

5 International processing

We may process personal data outside Japan or transfer it to an organization in another country when we work with overseas clients, research participants, individual analysts, external researchers, or other parties, or use services provided by overseas companies. In that case, we provide information, obtain consent, use contractual safeguards, or take other measures required by applicable law.

6 Retention and security

We determine retention periods by considering the relevant purpose, contractual and legal obligations, potential disputes, and security needs. When personal information is no longer required, we delete or anonymize it.

We take measures to prevent the leakage, loss, or damage of personal data, including:

• adopting a personal information policy and internal rules;
• defining responsible personnel and incident-reporting arrangements and training personnel;
• controlling access to records, devices, and work areas;
• managing accounts and permissions and using authentication, encryption, and other technical controls; and
• supervising service providers and understanding relevant foreign laws and systems when personal data is handled outside Japan.

To the extent that doing so would not compromise security, we explain an outline of our safeguards upon an appropriate request.

7 Requests concerning personal information

Subject to applicable law, an individual may request notification of purpose, access to retained personal data or records of third-party disclosures, correction, addition, deletion, suspension or erasure of use, or suspension of third-party disclosure.

To make a request, contact us using the details in Section 10. We respond in accordance with applicable law after verifying the identity of the individual or the authority of a representative.

8 Website information

8 1 Inquiry form

Our inquiry form collects your name, email address, company, website, and inquiry details. Your IP address, device and browser information, submission time, and related information may also be recorded to operate the form and prevent fraudulent submissions.

8 2 Cookies and external services

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies and transmit information to the following service providers to provide the website, receive inquiries, analyze use, maintain security, and display content.

Service	Provider	Main purposes	Information that may be transmitted
Google Analytics 4	Google LLC	Analyzing use and improving the website	Cookie identifiers, pages viewed, referrer, access date and time, interaction data, IP address, and device and browser information
Jetpack Stats and Jetpack Forms	Automattic Inc.	Traffic statistics, receiving inquiries, and operating the form	Visiting URL, referrer, access and submission time, IP address, device and browser information, and form entries
Google Maps	Google LLC	Displaying maps and location information	IP address, device and browser information, and map interaction data
Google Fonts	Google LLC	Displaying web fonts	IP address, device and browser information, and request information
Site Accelerator and related services	Automattic Inc.	Delivering images and other content	IP address, visiting URL, referrer, and device and browser information

The service providers, purposes, and information that may be transmitted are described in the table above.

For information about the collection of information through Google Analytics and its use by Google, please see “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.”
https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

9 Additional information for individuals in the EEA and the United Kingdom

This Section applies where the data protection laws of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom apply to our handling of personal information.

Depending on the purpose and circumstances, we process personal information on the basis of performance of a contract, legitimate interests, consent, compliance with a legal obligation, or another basis recognized by applicable law. For transfers from the EEA or the United Kingdom to Japan or another country, we rely, as applicable, on an adequacy decision, standard contractual clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

Subject to applicable conditions, an individual may request information, access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, or data portability; object to processing; withdraw consent; and lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. We do not use personal information covered by this Notice to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects for an individual.

10 Contact and changes

• Email  inquiries@merosconsulting.com
• Telephone  03-3526-2075
• Office hours and other procedures 09:00-17:30  

We may update this Notice to reflect changes in law, our services, or our handling of personal information. If a change is material, we provide notice on our website or through another appropriate method.