Fitch Ratings Japan Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy (“this “Policy”) governs the collection, retention and use of Personal Information (as defined below) and Non Personal Information (as defined below) by Fitch Ratings Japan Limited (“Fitch”). This Policy governs the terms under which we collect and protect the personal information and the non personal information of the users of this Website (the “Users”) that we obtain on this Website, as well as through face-to-face meetings, e-mail exchanges or any other means of business contacts with the Users, according to the “Act on the Protection of Personal Information”, the “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act” and other relevant laws and regulations. Except as specifically indicated herein, we will not sell, share, license, trade, or rent Personal Information or Non Personal Information of the Users to any third party. This Policy explains our current data collection and usage practices. Fitch will from time to time review and revise these practices. We will post any changes to this Policy on this Website. Please refer to this Policy on a regular basis. Use of this Website or any of the products or services provided on this Website, shall be an indication of your agreement to the terms of this Policy.
This Policy applies only to Personal Information and Non Personal Information collected by this Website or through contacts as described above. We are not responsible for the privacy practices regarding the information on websites that are operated or owned by third parties.

1. Collection of Personal Information
“Personal Information” means information about a living individual by which a specific individual can be identified by name, date of birth or other description contained in that information (including such information as will allow easy reference to other information and will thereby enable the identification of the specific individual). We collect Personal Information such as name, address, company or institution name, telephone number, and e-mail address, when Users use this Website, through a rating process, through other communications such as meetings and e-mail, or through a recruiting process. We collect and use such Personal Information only as permitted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations in Japan. Users are requested to provide Personal Information when they register on this Website. The registration process requires the User to provide such information as name, business e-mail address, business address/phone number and company name. The registration process also requires that the User agrees to the Terms of Use posted on this Website. In addition, we may collect Personal Information provided by the Users with express consent through online entry forms, order and registration forms, surveys and other cases.
In each of these cases above, we collect only Personal Information provided voluntarily by the User.
Users are not necessarily required to provide Personal Information to view this Website. This may, however, result in not being able to use all the features of this Website.

2. Collection of Non Personal Information
In addition to Personal Information, we may collect and/or track (i) information that cannot be used to identify a living individual, e.g., statistical data of the Users (such as age, profession or gender), domain names, computer type, browser types, and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of this Websites, (ii) information that can be used to identify the [Users other than living individuals][Who would this be?  Companies?: Yes], or (iii) the User’s’ access record of this Website ((i), (ii) and (iii) together, the “Non Personal Information”).

3. Tracking Tools
We may use certain internet technologies such as “cookies”, “action keys” and “web bugs”, among others, (collectively, the “Tracking Tools”) to assist the Users in their use of this Website. Tracking tools are files or tools that are placed on the computer of the Users in order to identify the type of Web browser and the activities of the Users’ computers on this Websites.
When the Users visit this Website, we may recognize the Users by a Tracking Tool, and customize the use of this Website to the Users accordingly (e.g., once the Users have completed registration procedures, a cookie will be used to avoid requesting that the Users register again). The Personal Information and Non Personal Information obtained from using these Tracking Tools is used or provided according to this Policy.

4. Purpose of Use of Personal Information and Non Personal Information
We will use Personal Information that we collect for the following purposes: (1) with regard to Personal Information collected in the process of performing the credit rating business and issuing ratings, we will use Personal Information only for the purpose deemed necessary for implementing the credit rating business and issuing ratings in a fair and adequate manner; (2) with regard to Personal Information collected in the process of recruitment activities, we will use Personal Information only for the purpose of recruitment; with regard to Personal Information collected other than in the process of (1) and (2) above (and including Personal Information provided by the Users when they register on this Website), (3) we will use such Personal Information for internal use to statistically analyze User behavior, to help product development, and to improve this Website’s contents and layout; and (4) to contact the Users for the purposes including (a) through (d) below.  We will not use any Personal Information of the Users for purposes other than the purposes of use stated above, except (i) to the extent necessary to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, (ii) with the User’s express permission, (iii) in cases where use is required to preserve our legal rights in this Website content and where obtaining the User’s consent is difficult, and (iv) in other events permitted under laws and regulations.

We will use Non Personal Information for internal or external purposes such as market segments and needs study and marketing activities.  With regard to Non Personal Information collected in the process of performing the credit rating business, we will use such Non Personal Information for the purpose described in (1) above.

In addition, we may, in our sole discretion, use Personal Information and Non Personal Information to contact the Users regarding (a) the Users’ account status and/or changes to the terms of use, (b) this Policy, (c) any other policies, agreements or transaction information relevant to the Users’ use of this Website, and (d) the introduction of products and services which we believe may be of interest to the Users. However, Users who do not wish to receive such marketing information may suspend the receipt of such information by sending e-mails to that effect to tokyoclient.services@fitchsolutions.com.

5. Provision of Personal Information and Non Personal Information to Third Parties
We will provide Personal Information collected by us to third parties only (i) if all or a part of the handling of the Personal Information is entrusted to the extent necessary to achieve the purposes of use of that Personal Information, (ii) in the case of business transfer due to a merger or similar event, or (iii) to jointly use it with Fitch group companies (including those outside Japan). In the case of (i) above, we will conduct the necessary or appropriate supervision of the entity that is entrusted by us.

We will provide Non Personal Information to third parties for the purposes described in (i) through (iii) above and for purposes such as market segments, needs study and marketing activities.

Other than as described above, we shall not disclose any Personal Information or Non Personal Information to any third party except with the prior consent of the User, or as otherwise permitted under laws and regulations. 

6. Joint Use
In the case of Section 5 (iii) above,
(a) the scope of Personal Information and Non Personal Information used jointly shall be the name, company and section name or the individual’s address, phone number and e-mail address;
(b) the companies to jointly use information shall be Fitch, Inc., Fitch Ratings Limited, Fitch Solutions, Inc., Fitch Training, Inc. and their affiliates;
(c) the purposes of the joint use of Personal Information and Non Personal Information shall be as provided in the section above titled “4. Purpose of Use of Personal Information and Non Personal Information”.
(d) the department responsible for the joint use of Personal Information and Non Personal Information shall be:
Fitch Ratings Japan Limited, Fitch Solutions Dept.
Address: Kojimachi Crystal City East Wing 3F
4-8 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan
Telephone: 03-3288-2715
E-mail: tokyoclient.services@fitchsolutions.com

7. Links
This Website may contain links to other internet websites. We do not guarantee or assume responsibilities for either the protection of Personal Information or Non Personal Information or the content of these websites.

8. Security Measures
We have established reasonable precautionary measures to protect collected Personal Information and collected Non Personal Information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. Such measures include contractual, administrative, physical, and technical measures. Technical measures include the use of firewall protection and encryption technology where appropriate. Please note that while we have endeavored to develop a secure and reliable site for the Users, the confidentiality of any information or material transmitted to/from us via this Websites or e-mail cannot be guaranteed.

9. Compliance with Laws and Regulations
We will comply with the “Personal Information Protection Act” and the “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act” as well as other relevant laws, regulations and the guidelines for the handling of Personal Information and Non Personal Information.

10. Jurisdiction
This Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan, and any disputes in connection with this Policy shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court.

11. Contact Information
If we are contacted by a User with respect to notification of the use, disclosure, correction, addition, deletion, suspension of use, erasure and suspension of provision to third parties of Personal Information or Non Personal Information, we will confirm the identity of the User in accordance with the prescribed procedure and take appropriate actions complying with the Personal Information Protection Act and other relevant laws, regulations and guidelines.

Fitch Ratings Japan Limited is responsible for the data administration of this Website. It works either with Fitch, Inc. or any of its affiliates, entrusting the control to such group companies as needed.
Questions or concerns regarding this Policy and data protection practices should be addressed to the following address:
tokyoclient.services@fitchsolutions.com

BY USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS POLICY AND OF OUR PROCESSING THE PERSONAL INFORMATION AND NON PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY, YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THIS WEBSITE FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF CHANGES TO THIS POLICY WILL MEAN THAT YOU ALSO ACCEPT THOSE CHANGES.
Copyright © 2012 by Fitch Ratings Japan Limited