Privacy Policy

Who operates Kotsumi

Kotsumi is operated by Sticker Mori LLC, a United States company and the controller of the personal data described in this notice. Mailing address: 7901 4TH ST N # 14176, ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33702, United States. For privacy questions or requests, contact info@kotsumi.com.

Information we collect

Depending on the features you use, Kotsumi processes the following categories of information:

• Account and contact information: account identifier, email address, and display name. If you use Sign in with Apple, Apple may provide a private relay email address instead of your personal email address.
• Profile information: display name, Study Icon, profile visibility settings, and profile content you choose to make visible.
• Study and usage information: focus sessions and runs, durations, streaks, study totals, task completion, room participation, opt-in Room Challenge participation and completion state, and product interactions required to operate statistics and service features.
• Planner and task content: tasks, planner pages, text, stickers, placements, pinned notebook days, and related organization data.
• Community content: room names and descriptions, memberships and roles, chat messages and optional chat photos, replies, reactions, mentions, announcements, Group Focus sessions, optional Room Challenge notes or photos you explicitly submit, Study Update posts and comments, and frozen activity summaries you explicitly choose to share.
• Safety information: reports, report reasons, blocks, room bans, moderation evidence, sanctions, and audit records used to protect users and enforce the Community Standards.
• Kotsu Coin and catalog information: earned-coin ledger entries, catalog purchases made with earned coins, owned items, and equipped items. Kotsumi v1 does not sell Kotsu Coins or digital items for real money.
• Notification information: Apple Push Notification service device tokens and notification-related state needed to deliver requested notifications.
• Technical and security information: limited records needed for authentication, reliability, fraud prevention, abuse prevention, and service security.

How information reaches us

We collect information electronically when you register or sign in, enter content, use study and social features, submit a safety report, or contact support. Apple or Google provides the sign-in information you authorize. Technical connection and security records are generated by the app and service infrastructure. Camera access is requested when needed; photo selection uses the system picker. Kotsumi does not request access to your contacts, microphone, or precise GPS location for these features.

The app stores session credentials securely on your device and keeps local settings and feature caches. Live Activities and notifications may display study information on your lock screen according to your iOS settings. This public legal website does not embed product or advertising analytics; its hosting provider may process connection and security information.

How we use information

We use information only for purposes connected to operating and protecting Kotsumi, including:

• creating and authenticating accounts;
• running focus timers, Live Activities, notifications, statistics, streaks, tasks, planner features, and server-verified Room Challenges;
• providing study rooms, chat, reactions, mentions, announcements, shared focus sessions, profiles, and visibility controls;
• maintaining Kotsu Coin balances and the earned-coin catalog;
• processing reports, blocks, bans, moderation decisions, and appeals;
• providing support, diagnosing failures, preventing abuse, and securing the service;
• complying with applicable legal obligations.

We do not sell personal data. Kotsumi does not use third-party advertising SDKs, does not use personal data for third-party advertising, and does not track you across unrelated apps or websites for advertising purposes.

Legal grounds for processing

We process account, authentication, study, planner and shared-content data to establish and perform the service agreement for the features you request. Security, abuse prevention and service reliability rely on our legitimate interests where necessary and where those interests do not override your rights. Records needed for legal claims or specific legal duties are processed on those grounds only when applicable. Where consent is required, we request it separately; you can withdraw it for future processing by contacting us or using the relevant control. Withdrawing photo-checking consent means you cannot submit further photos for that check, but does not prevent you from using unrelated features. Consent withdrawal does not retroactively invalidate earlier lawful processing. A device permission or acceptance of these terms does not replace any legal safeguard required for international transfers.

Service providers and sharing

Kotsumi uses service providers only where needed to operate the service. Supabase provides database, authentication, realtime communication, storage, and backend processing. Resend delivers authentication emails and processes the recipient email address and verification message. Google provides Google sign-in when you choose it. Apple provides Sign in with Apple, APNs notifications, and platform services. OpenAI checks photos for potentially harmful content before sharing, after you agree in the app. Only the photo is sent for this check, without account identifiers or room messages. Automated checks can make mistakes; contact support to question a rejection. Cloudflare hosts this public website and may process ordinary web request information as part of delivering it.

We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect the rights or safety of users or the service, or in connection with a legitimate corporate transaction. Service providers are expected to protect information consistently with their contractual and legal obligations.

What other users can see

Kotsumi is partly social, so some information is visible to other signed-in users according to the features and privacy settings you choose. Room members may see your display name, Study Icon, room participation, messages, reactions, announcements, shared focus activity, and other room content. If you opt into a Room Challenge, current room members may see your daily status and accepted note or photo evidence, subject to blocks, bans, moderation, and retention. Private task titles and timer/task source identifiers are not shared. Study Update posts can be Public, visible to people who currently share a room with you, or Private; profile visibility is always the maximum audience. A shared study card is a frozen summary created when you publish it and does not expose the underlying private timer, task, planner, or wallet record. Profile visibility controls determine who can open your profile. If you pin planner notebook days to your profile, eligible viewers can open those pinned days read-only; unpinned planner content remains private.

Your email address and Kotsu Coin balance are not displayed as public profile information.

Retention and deletion

We generally retain account and feature data while your account remains active and for as long as needed to provide the service. Shared photos do not expire solely because time has passed. Chat photos remain with their messages, and submitted Room Challenge photos remain with their check-ins until withdrawn, replaced, or removed through content, account, room, or moderation actions. Room Challenge notes expire 30 days after the challenge's final occurrence and are queued for deletion; completion status, timestamps, and audit summaries may remain. An unresolved moderation case may place the reported evidence on a documented hold until the case is resolved. Withdrawal, account deletion, or room deletion may remove raw evidence sooner. When you delete your account, Kotsumi removes the account, your Study Update posts, and account-linked personal study data that is not required to be retained. Your room messages, comments, and announcements are deleted, including those shared with other users. New access to associated photos is revoked and their stored files are queued for deletion. Previously downloaded copies or short-lived access links may remain available briefly; deletion cannot recall screenshots or copies another person already saved.

Safety evidence, moderation records, transaction/audit records, and limited security information may be retained for a reasonable period when necessary to investigate abuse, enforce restrictions, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, or satisfy legal obligations. Deletion from active systems does not necessarily remove a backup copy at the same moment. Any retained backup copies remain subject to applicable retention and deletion obligations and are not made available as active user records.

Your choices and controls

You can control profile visibility, choose whether to pin planner days, opt into eligible Room Challenges, withdraw your own challenge evidence, leave rooms, delete eligible content, block other users, review report status, manage notification permissions in iOS, delete your Kotsumi account from Profile → Settings → Delete account.

If you created your account with Sign in with Apple, Kotsumi requires a fresh Apple confirmation during deletion and revokes the associated Apple authorization before completing deletion. For privacy requests you cannot complete in the app, email info@kotsumi.com.

Privacy requests and your rights

Depending on applicable law, you may request access to information about your personal data, its uses and recipients; correction of inaccurate data; and deletion where the legal conditions are met. You may also have rights to obtain a copy, restrict or object to processing, withdraw consent, request that corrections or deletions be communicated to recipients, challenge an adverse automated decision, or seek a remedy for unlawful processing.

Send requests to info@kotsumi.com or to Sticker Mori LLC at the United States mailing address above, preferably identifying the email address registered to your account and clearly describing your request. We may request only information necessary to verify identity and process the request; do not send passwords or verification codes. We respond within the time limits required by applicable law. Other legally permitted application methods and any right to complain to a competent supervisory authority remain available.

Reading this notice or creating an account is not consent to third-party photo checking.

Product analytics removal

Build 16 and later remove the Mixpanel SDK and do not send product analytics events, analytics device identifiers, or analytics-derived location to Mixpanel. Earlier builds may still contain the integration; update the app to remove it. This change does not remove study statistics or any account, photo-sharing, or safety feature. Removing the SDK does not itself delete data previously held by Mixpanel; contact info@kotsumi.com for a request concerning earlier data.

Children

Kotsumi is intended for people aged 13 and older and is not directed to children under 13. You must also meet any higher age or parental authorization requirements that apply to your use of the service. We do not offer an in-app parental consent process. If you do not meet the applicable requirements, do not create an account. If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we will take steps to remove the account and its personal information, subject to applicable legal requirements. Contact info@kotsumi.com to report an underage account.

International processing and security

Service providers may process information in countries other than your own. We use access controls, encrypted transport, server-side authorization, row-level security, and operational safeguards designed to protect information. No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when Kotsumi changes or when legal requirements change. Material changes will be reflected by updating the effective date and, when appropriate, communicated through the app or service.