Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Korea 101 ("we", "us", the "Service", at koreastart.com) handles personal information. We aim to collect as little as possible and to be clear about the rest. We handle personal information in line with the Republic of Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA / 개인정보 보호법) and related regulations.

1. What we collect

We separate "just browsing" from "using the community", because they're very different.

We do not ask for a phone number, and we don't collect sensitive information (건강, 사상·신념 등 민감정보) or resident registration numbers (주민등록번호). Please don't post such information about yourself or others in the community.

2. How we use it

• To provide and maintain the Service and the community board.
• To authenticate you and keep your account secure.
• To display your posts and enable community features (including translation to read across languages).
• To respond to your questions and handle reports or abuse.
• To keep the Service safe, prevent fraud/abuse, and meet legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information. Korea 101 is supported by advertising: we use Google AdSense to display ads. Google and its partners may use cookies and device identifiers to serve and measure ads, and (where enabled) to show ads based on your visits to this and other sites. See "Cookies & advertising" below, and Google's policies at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. We also use Google Analytics to understand site usage.

3. Third-party services (processors)

We rely on reputable providers to run the site. Each processes only what's needed for its function, and may store data outside Korea (see "Overseas transfer" below):

4. Overseas transfer of data

Some providers above (e.g. Google, Supabase) may store or process data on servers outside the Republic of Korea. By signing in and posting, you understand your account and content data may be transferred overseas for these purposes. We take reasonable steps to work with providers that offer appropriate protections. In particular, Google (Analytics, AdSense, Sign-In, Fonts) processes data on servers in the United States and other countries, and Supabase hosts our community data on servers outside Korea.

5. How long we keep it

• Account data: kept while your account exists. When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize associated personal data, except where law requires retention.
• Posts & comments: remain visible until you delete them or your account; deleted content is removed from public view and purged on our normal cycle.
• Access logs: retained for a limited period for security and then deleted. (Certain access records may be retained where required by applicable law.)
• Inquiries: kept only as long as needed to resolve them.

6. Your rights

Under PIPA (and, where applicable, laws like the EU GDPR), you can:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Correct inaccurate data;
• Delete your data or account;
• Suspend/limit processing; and
• Withdraw consent at any time (this won't affect processing already done).

To exercise these, contact our privacy officer above. You may also delete your own posts and account directly once community features launch. If you're unhappy with how we handle a request, you can contact Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) or the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) privacy report center (dial 118).

7. Cookies & similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for three purposes: essential cookies/local storage to keep you signed in and run the site; analytics cookies (Google Analytics) to understand usage; and advertising cookies set by Google AdSense and its partners to serve and measure ads. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to this and other websites. You can control cookies in your browser settings (signing in may not work without essential cookies), opt out of personalised Google ads at google.com/settings/ads, and learn more at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. For visitors in the EEA/UK, we aim to obtain consent for non-essential cookies before they are set.

8. Children

The community is not directed at children under 14. Under PIPA, collecting a child's data generally requires a legal guardian's consent. If you believe a child under 14 has created an account, contact us and we'll remove it.

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data (e.g. access controls, encryption in transit, trusted processors). No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep the little data we hold safe.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service evolves (for example, when the community launches). We'll post the revised version here with a new "last updated" date; significant changes will be highlighted on the site.