Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Don Holdings is a property management business operating share houses and studio apartments in the Yokohama area of Kanagawa, Japan. We operate this website at www.don-holdings.com.

For the purposes of Japanese data protection law (個人情報保護法, APPI) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Don Holdings is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

2. What personal data we collect

We collect personal data in the following situations:

Tenancy applications — when you submit an application through our Apply Now form:

• Full name and email address
• Nationality and age range
• Purpose of stay, intended stay duration, and preferred move-in date
• Employer or institution name
• Funding source
• Languages spoken, hobbies and interests, and lifestyle information
• How you heard about us

Studio pre-registration — when you pre-register interest in Kanoedai studios:

• Full name and email address
• Nationality, move-in timeframe, purpose of stay, and budget range

Tenant matching survey — when you complete our housing preferences survey:

• Email address and housing preferences
• Budget, station preferences, and stay duration

Community Access membership — when you purchase access to resident profiles:

• Name and email address
• Payment information (processed by Stripe — we do not store card details)

Automatic data collection — when you visit our website:

• IP address and browser type
• Pages visited and time spent on site
• Referring website
• Cookie data (see Section 8)

3. Why we collect it and our legal basis

4. How we use your data

We use your personal data only for the purposes stated at the time of collection:

• To process your tenancy application — review your suitability, contact you with next steps, and arrange property viewings
• To match you with suitable vacancies — compare your preferences against available rooms and send personalised recommendations
• To notify you of relevant availability — if you pre-registered for studios or registered interest in a property, we will contact you when matching rooms become available
• To create your Community Access profile — if you become a resident and provide separate explicit consent via the opt-in checkbox on the application form, the following information may be used to create a housemate profile visible to paying Community Access members: initials only (e.g. “J.S.”), nationality, age range, hobbies and interests, languages spoken, and reasons for choosing share house living. Full name, employer, funding source, daily routine details, and contact information are never included in Community Access profiles. You may withdraw consent at any time by written notice to us, and your profile will be removed within 7 days
• To improve our services — anonymised data about applicant preferences helps us understand housing demand in the Yokohama area
• To comply with legal obligations — Japanese tenancy law requires us to retain certain records

5. Third parties and data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data with third parties only where necessary to operate our services:

All third-party services we use maintain their own privacy policies and data protection practices. We have selected services that comply with applicable data protection laws.

6. How long we keep your data

When data is no longer needed, we delete it securely. You may request earlier deletion — see Section 7.

7. Your rights

Depending on where you are located, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — ask us to delete your data where there is no legitimate reason to continue processing it
• Right to restrict processing — ask us to pause processing your data in certain circumstances
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format (GDPR, EU residents)
• Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at Contact us →. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device. We use the following types:

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect site functionality.

9. Data security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include:

• HTTPS encryption on all pages (Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate)
• Server hosted on AWS Lightsail with firewall protection
• WordPress admin access restricted and protected
• Regular security updates to all software
• Login attempt limiting to prevent brute force attacks

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you believe your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately at Contact us →.

10. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify active applicants and tenants by email.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact us

For any questions, requests, or concerns about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal data: