Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 1, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how the Operator of A2Gig collects, uses, discloses, stores, and otherwise handles personal information in connection with the Service.
Because the Service is operated by an individual sole proprietor and relies on third-party service providers, your information may be processed both directly by us and on our behalf by providers that help us authenticate users, creator files, send communications, and process payments.
1. Personal Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
- account identifiers such as email address, display name, username, and encrypted or provider-managed authentication credentials;
- profile details such as avatar, preferred language, and other account preferences you provide;
- competition content, thumbnails, external links, tags, attachments, Q&A content, and other creator-provided materials;
- submission metadata and files, including upload-session records, titles, descriptions, and file-related validation results;
- private or semi-private communications such as messages and direct support inquiries;
- payment-related identifiers and status data we receive from Stripe, such as customer IDs, connected-account IDs, checkout session IDs, payment intent IDs, transfer IDs, and payout status.
Information we collect automatically
- IP address, browser type, device details, operating system hints, timestamps, and request metadata;
- session and security metadata such as authentication cookies, session identifiers, sign-in history, last active times, and device or user-agent information;
- service usage events, page visits, referrer information, and feature interaction logs;
- logs, moderation traces, audit submissions, fraud or rate-limit signals, and file-access records.
Information from third parties
- identity and profile data made available by OAuth providers such as Google when you choose to log in that way;
- payment, risk, and verification information from Stripe and financial institutions;
- communications-delivery status information from email and service providers.
2. How We Use Personal Information
- to create and maintain your account, authenticate you, and secure the Service;
- to publish competitions, accept submissions, manage account access, support Q&A, and facilitate winner selection, payout, and submission chat;
- to operate checkout, payout onboarding, transaction records, payout scheduling, payment corrections, reversals, anti-fraud checks, and payment-partner compliance;
- to send operational notices, security alerts, deadlines, payment updates, onboarding messages, support responses, and other transactional communications;
- to investigate abuse, enforce our terms, comply with sanctions and export rules, respond to support inquiries, and cooperate with legal process;
- to monitor Service performance, demand, and abuse trends through internal logs and operational metrics;
- to comply with accounting, tax, legal retention, audit, dispute, and evidentiary obligations.
3. Legal Bases and Regional Compliance
Depending on where you are located, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases: performance of a contract with you, legitimate interests in operating and securing the Service, compliance with legal obligations, and consent where required.
- For users in Japan, we handle retained personal data requests in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) and related guidance, subject to statutory exceptions.
- For users in the EEA, UK, and similar jurisdictions, we may rely on contract necessity, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and consent depending on the processing activity.
- Where local law grants non-waivable consumer or privacy rights, nothing in this policy is intended to reduce those rights.
5. Public, Limited-Access, and Private Areas of the Service
- Your username, display name, avatar, and certain aggregate profile metrics may be visible to logged-in users where the Service presents them.
- Competition pages and competition Q&A can be visible beyond the creator and accounts, subject to applicable competition state and moderation controls.
- Submission files and related metadata are not publicly browsable through standard Service interfaces. Creators may access competition submission files for evaluation, and the Service may process necessary records for security, fraud, legal, and compliance operations outside user-facing Service interfaces.
- Submission comment threads are intended to be visible only to the relevant account and the competition creator through the Service.
6. International Transfers and Foreign Processing
The Service uses providers with infrastructure, personnel, subprocessors, or delivery networks located in multiple countries. As a result, personal information may be stored or processed outside your country of residence, including in jurisdictions whose data protection laws differ from those of Japan or your home country.
Where required, we rely on contractual safeguards, processor arrangements, your instructions to use payment or authentication providers, or other lawful transfer mechanisms. Additional information about material foreign processing arrangements can be requested at privacy@a2gig.com.
7. Retention
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to maintain the Service, keep event records, resolve disputes, prevent abuse, comply with tax and accounting rules, and satisfy payment-partner or legal obligations.
- account and profile records are generally kept while the account remains active and for a reasonable period afterward;
- payment, transaction, audit, dispute, and fraud records may be kept for many years where required by law, processor rules, or legitimate operational need;
- finalized submission files are generally retained with the submission; draft upload objects, generated archive files, and other temporary storage objects may expire or be deleted under retention operations, while related metadata may be retained;
- logs, session history, and contact anti-abuse data are retained for security and abuse prevention for operationally appropriate periods;
- backups and legal-hold copies may persist beyond ordinary deletion schedules.
8. Security
We use operational, technical, and organizational measures appropriate to the size of the Service and the risks involved, including access controls, created authentication, encryption in transit, anti-abuse controls, audit logging, limited staff access, and processor security features. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Your Rights and Choices
Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access, confirm, correct, update, export, restrict, object to, or request deletion of certain personal information, and to withdraw consent where processing depends on consent.
- Some account and profile information can be updated directly in account settings.
- Rights requests may require us to verify your identity and may be refused or limited where law permits, including where disclosure would harm others, compromise security, or conflict with retention obligations.
- You can clear or block cookies through your browser settings, though doing so may affect sign-in, recovery, or other core functions.
To exercise privacy rights or ask for more information, contact privacy@a2gig.com. You may also complain to a competent supervisory authority if local law gives you that right.
10. Children
The Service is not intended for minors under 18. We do not knowingly permit minors to create accounts or use the Service. If you believe a minor has provided personal information to us in breach of this policy, contact privacy@a2gig.com.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy as the Service, law, or our providers change. The revised version will be posted here with an updated revision date. Material changes may also be communicated through the Service or by email where appropriate.
12. Contact
- Privacy inquiries and rights requests: privacy@a2gig.com
- General legal contact: legal@a2gig.com
- Operator: 前田翔