Privacy policy

Protection of personal information

Personal information protection policy

Sapporo Breweries Limited (“Sapporo Beer”) recognizes utility of personal information and importance of protecting it. We employ strict and accurate measures for the management and use of personal information as part of fulfilling our corporate social responsibility.
Sapporo Beer strictly complies with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in order to allow our customers and all other stakeholders with whom we engage to use our products and services with peace of mind. We also employ the following privacy policy and actively take measures to protect personal information, and make ongoing improvements to those measures.

  1. We comply with all applicable laws, internal regulations, and other rules on treatment of personal information.
  2. When collecting personal information, we clarify the purpose of use, and provide and use the personal information only within that scope.
  3. We retain personal information in an accurate and up to date format subject to applicable laws and regulations, and accommodate requests from individuals as concern the disclosure, revision to, deletion of, or refusal of continued use and provision of, their personal information.
  4. We take applicable safety measures and precautions to prevent the unauthorized access, loss, destruction, alteration, or leak of personal information.
  5. We maintain internal systems for protection of personal information, and make ongoing improvements to these systems.

Sapporo Breweries Ltd.
Hideya Takashima, President & Representative Director

Public notice on Act on the Protection of Personal Information

Sapporo Beer makes public the following information as pertains to the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (“Personal Information Protection Act”).

Use of retained personal data*
*Per Article 2 (Terms) of the Personal Information Protection Act

1. Personal information of promotional campaign winners

Campaign winner information may be retained in some cases if the type of prize is subject to certain restrictions under the Product Liability Act. Personal information of those who applied for a promotional campaign (not including the winners) is discarded immediately after the drawing of winners. The personal information of winners is usually disposed of immediately after confirmation of the delivery of the prize.

2. Personal information used for promotional campaigns via direct mail

This personal information is solely used to notify via direct mail individuals who requested information on promotional campaigns.

3. Personal information of Sapporo Beer web site (including mobile sites) members

This information is used to send e-mail newsletters and to provide certain content and functionality on the web site to members.

4. Personal information of those who makes online purchases

This personal information is retained per applicable tax legislation and the Product Liability Act.

5. Personal information of participants in meetings hosted by Sapporo Beer

This personal information is used by our secretariat to notify members about Sapporo Beer events.

6. Personal information of visitors and users of Sapporo Beer facilities (breweries, factories, et cetera)

This personal information is used to provide services to visitors and users of these sites, as well as used for emergency contact purposes, and to send survey questionnaires to them.

7. Personal information of those who place inquiries with Sapporo Beer’s customer support centers

This peronal information is used to respond to questions and inquiries. Depending on the nature of the inquiry, the information may be retained. This information is also used to send customers questionnaires asking about how satisfied they were with our service.

8. Personal information of applicants (career/recruitment)

This personal information is used solely for recruitment of ou employees. The personal information of those who are not hired is discarded or returned as soon as possible after the recruitment period has ended. Note that some applicants' personal information may be retained, such as when the selection and screening period is longer.

9. Personal information of retirees/resignees

This personal nformation is used to the extent necessary to comply with the provisions of labor laws and regulations.

10. Personal information of business partners

This personal Information is used for better communication and responses to each other. It may also be used to preserve the legitimate interests of Sapporo Beer in the transactions.

11. Personal information of shareholders

This personal Information is used for management of and notification to shareholders as stipulated in the Companies Act and its related regulations.

Use of personal information obtained directly (by means other than in writing)

We will not collect personal information directly, other than through written information, unless the intended purpose of use is evident in the light of the context in which the personal information is acquired. Note that calls received at our customer support centers are recorded to improve our customer services.

Purpose of use of personal information obtained indirectly

  1. There may be cases where personal information of business partners and parties we deal with is collected indirectly through our sales activities (or through publicly available information) in order to make our business activities more efficient and duly protect our interests and properties.
  2. If we are entrusted to process personal information by one of our group companies, clients and/or other business partners, we use the personal information solely for the purposes of such entrustment.
  3. Where a promotional campaign for Sapporo Beer products is hosted by a third party other than Sapporo Beer, we may receive winners' personal information from the third party in order to comply with the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.
  4. For our recruitment, we receive personal information of applicants who seek employment at Sapporo Beer from any third party career and job placement services.
  5. In order to increase the convenience of our services, through some functionality on Sapporo Beer’s web sites, we receive personal information registered on the third party services.

Shared/joint use of personal data*
*Per Article 2 (Terms) of the Personal Information Protection Act

Sapporo Beer and its group companies may solely or jointly use personal data, that is, each element of personal inforamtion, in the following cases. For all other cases, we indicate the intended purpose when obtaining the information.

1. Personal information of the one who contacts us

  1. A. Personal data items subject to joint use
    Name, address, postal code, telephone number, sex, date of birth, e-mail address and other necessary personal information
  2. B. Scope of joint users
    Sapporo Group companies
  3. C. Purpose of use
    This personal information is used to accurately and efficiently respond to customer inquiries.
  4. D. Point of contact for requests for disclosure and/or complaints
    Please refer to the “personal information inquiries” section below.

2. Personal information of clients and customers

  1. A. Personal data items subject to joint use
    Personal information necessary for commercial transactions, such as name, address, and telephone number
  2. B. Scope of joint users
    Sapporo Group companies
  3. C. Purpose of use
    This personal Information is used in order to protect our legitimate interests pertaining to business transactions, such as business information exchange and efficient customer communication.
  4. D. Point of contact for requests for disclosure and/or complaints
    Please refer to the “personal information inquiries” section below.

3. Personal information of employees and retirees/resignees

  1. A. Personal data items subject to joint use
    Name, address, and other items necessary for labor management purposes
  2. B. Scope of joint users
    Sapporo Group companies
  3. C. Purpose of use
    This information is used for human resources management of personnel and retirees/resignees.
  4. D. Requests for disclosure and point of contact for complaints and other inquiries
    Please refer to the “personal information inquiries” section below.

Request for disclosure*
*Subject to Article 32 (Disclosure Request Procedures) of the Personal Information Protection Act

Sapporo Beer takes the following procedures under Article 32 (Disclosure Request Procedures) of the Personal Information Protection Act, on disclosing and treating personal data for which Sapporo Beer bears a duty of disclosure.

  • (When you request us to disclose your personal information) After receiving your specific information necessary to verify your identify, we will confirm whether we can disclose your personal information in question, some of which have already been discarded pursuant to our internal proceedures and can no longer be disclosed.
  • In case that we can disclose your personal information, we will send you a disclosure request form. (Note that if, however, after sending you the form, when it is found that we no longer retain the personal information on file, we cannot disclose and send it to you.)
  • Please send back to us the disclosure form signed and chopped by you, and enclose a postal stamp (822 Japanese Yen) to be attached with our postal mail with proof of delivery, a copy of your resident certificate (excerpted and issued at least thirty days prior to the request) or driver’s license. Please refer to the below section on “personal information inquiries” for a return address.
  • Requests for disclosure of personal inforamtion retained by us will only be accepted if made by you, your legal agent or other person designated by you. In that case, ecclosing a copy of your resident certificate or driver's license, please send us the following documents to prove title or qualification to request for your personal information with a postal stamp with proof of delivery;

    1. (i)If requested by your legal agent, a document proving title or qualification of legal agent and a copy of your resident certificate (issued within 30 days prior to the date of the request), or
    2. (ii)If requested by a designated person by you, a power of attorney document with a certified seal and a copy of your residence certificate (issued within 30 days prior to the date of the request).
  • After you mail us a disclosure request form and a copy of your residence certificate or driver’s license, with a postal stamp for proof of delivery, we will confirm your identity, such as by calling back the telephone associated with the retained personal information. We then disclose the personal information by postal mail with proof of delivery, on condition that we are able to confirm that the identify matches the data we retain on file. In case that we cannot confirm your identity, we will notify you of our intent not to disclose it by postal mail sent with proof of delivery.
  • In case that, as the result of the confirmation, we found to have not retained your personal information any longer, and thus cannot disclose it, we will send you such result via postal mail with proof of delivery.
  • Even if you request us to disclose your personal information, as long as legal exemptions apply (Article 28, Clause 2, Items 1-3 of the Personal Information Protection Act), we will notify you of not disclosing personal information via postal mail with proof of delivery.
  • Any documents you have sent us for personal identification, such as a copy of resident certificate or driver’s license, are used only for identity verification purposes.

Sapporo Breweries Ltd.
Established: March 28, 2005
Last revision: May 30, 2017

Web site privacy policy

Sapporo Beer recognizes importance of protecting personal information and considers its proper management as one of our key responsibilities. Sapporo Beer strictly complies with laws and regulations for protecting personal information, establishes a privacy policy, and operates and manages this web site (“Site”) for our customers to use Site safely. Note that you agree you use use Site subject to your fully understanding of and consent to these terms.

Description of Personal information

Personal information as described in this privacy policy refers to the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail which you provide to us as part of the services and web sites operated and managed by Sapporo Beer, and which, individually or in combination, can be used to personally identify you.

1. We contact you for your personal information like the below.

The Site is operated as a part of the suite of services Sapporo Beer offers to customers. Personal information may be collected and addressed in the cases below and within the scope required.

Applications and participation in promotional campaigns and events
Survey responses
Inquiries
Enrolling in member services
Registering for e-mail newsletters
Purchasing and ordering goods and services
Others (where we provide our services tailored to you, using your personal information)

In the cases above, it is at the customer’s sole discretion whether you provide your personal information to Sapporo Beer. We never forces you to provide this information to us. Even if you elect not to provide your personal information to us, you can use most services on the Site. However, there are some services that can be available only by providing personal information to us. You agree that you may be unable to use these services if you do not wish to provide personal information.

2. The type of personal information we ask you for is as follows.

Some of personal information which is necessary for us to provide our services on the Site, is as follows.

Name
E-mail address
Telephone number
Address and postcode
Date of birth and age
gender
Marital status
Occupation
Your information registered on social media and external service companies
Other detail information essential to the provision of services

In Japan, people under 20 years of age are prohibited from drinking alcohol by law.
We ask for your date of birth and age in order to prevent drinking by minors.
We ask you for age and gender information in order to better apprehend the demographics and needs of our users and develop new and more useful services.

3. Your personal information is used for the following purposes;

When we ask you to provide personal information, we announce in advance on the Site the intended purpose of use and use the personal inforamtion within the scope of such purpose.
Where there is a need to use your personal information beyond the scope initially indicated (new purpose), we inform you of said purpose of use in advance. If you do not agree to the new purpose of use, you may refuse our use of your personal information. (However, if the use of your personal information is essential to provision of our service, you agree we may not be able to provide that service to you.)
Your personal information is mainly used for the purposes below. If you request us to suspend further use of your personal information, you can contact us here at any time.

To provide prizes to winners of promotional campaigns and events
To provide prizes and compliments to those who respond to our questionnaires
To respond to your inquiries
To send e-mail newsletters to you
To deliver goods and services purchased or ordered by you
To confirm whether you are registered for membership services
To use as statistical data for marketing, product development, and similar purposes
To confirm information required for providing to you the products and services you have subscribed for.
To contact you accordingly if important matters happen
To improve quality of our services and customer convenience, such as by customizing web-pages to each customer and allowing the omission of previously entered information when applying or registering for new services

4. We will not provide personal information to any third parties.

Excluding the cases below, we do not disclose your personal information to third parties.

Where we obtain your consent to do so
Where we entrust our business to an agency, transport carrier, payment provider, or other parties in connection with applying for a promotional campaign or event, ordering products, or using financial services.
Where we deem, in the light of the nature of your request, that one of Sapporo Beer’s affiliates (listed on this web site) should reply to you
Where required by laws to provide the personal information to the authorities

5. We manage personal information with due care.

We manage personal information provided by you with due care and take reasonable remedies to prevent from the risk of leak, loss, misuse, alteration of, or unauthorized access to, personal information. In addition, when you provide personal information to us, we endeavor to ensure security through the use of secure technologies like SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to prevent the personal information from being intercepted by any third parties.
To improve Sapporo Beer’s services quality, and make greater convenience of our customers, we may outsource the handling of personal information to an external company. In this case, we instruct and supervise the third party contractor to ensure that the personal information is properly managed.
Where we provide statistical information to third parties, we do so only in the form of anonymized statistical information by which the individual cannot be identified.

6. Inquiries about personal information

For inquiries pertaining to matters other than member services registration, please refer to the Public Notice per the Personal Information Protection Act.

By entering on the Site your login ID (e-mail address) and password you configured when registering for membership services, you can browse, revise, and delete the personal information we retain on file. Personal information not pertaining to member services registrants (such as applicant's information for promotional campaigns) is deleted six months after the campaign ends.

8. Please note

On the Site, we may provide to you contents that integrates with external services and accounts on other sites. Note that any information you have made public on those sites will be treated as public information when you link your account.

The Site links to external web sites not owned or operated by Sapporo Beer. Sapporo Beer will not be liable for protecting personal information or content on or through those linked pages.

9. Inquiries

If you have an inquiry regarding our use of your personal information on the Site, please contact us via this page.

Sapporo Beer periodically reviews and, at its own discretion, updates this privacy policy. The updated privacy policy will be posted on this Site.

Established: April 6, 2001
Last revision: November 30, 2015