Privacy
What is collected, why, and how to have it removed.
SHUG (byshug.com) is published and operated from Japan by Shug. Questions and requests go to hi@byshug.com. The registered business details behind the Shug name are disclosed on request through the same address, as set out on 特定商取引法に基づく表記.
Last updated: 5 September 2026.
What Is Collected
- Your email address, when you sign up. A name is optional.
- Membership status: which plan you are on, when it started, and whether it is active.
- Payment records: the amount, date and result of each payment, and the brand and last four digits of the card. The card number itself never reaches this site. It is entered on Stripe's checkout and held by Stripe.
- Basic usage data collected by the publishing platform: pages viewed, referring site, approximate location from IP address, browser and device type, and whether an email we sent was opened.
- What you send us, when you write by email.
No advertising trackers and no third-party analytics scripts are used on this site.
Why
To give you access to what you paid for, to take and record payments, to send sign-in links and receipts, to send new-entry emails if you asked for them, to answer messages, to keep the site working and defend it against abuse, and to keep the accounting and tax records Japanese law requires.
Your email address is never sold, rented or shared for anyone else's marketing.
Who Else Handles It
- Ghost — the publishing platform this site runs on. It stores member accounts and usage data, serves the pages, and sends the site's email, including sign-in links and new-entry notifications.
- Stripe — payments. Stripe holds the card details and its own privacy policy applies to them.
Both act as service providers on our instructions, and data may be processed on servers outside Japan, including in the United States and the European Union. If a further provider is ever added, this list is updated before it starts.
We otherwise disclose personal data only when the law requires it.
Cookies
Cookies are used to keep you signed in and to remember basic preferences. There are no advertising cookies. Blocking cookies will stop sign-in from working.
How Long
Account and membership data is kept while the account exists, and deleted when you ask.
Payment and tax records are kept for as long as Japanese tax law requires, currently seven years, even after an account is deleted. That is a legal obligation and it cannot be waived by request.
Your Requests
Write to hi@byshug.com from the address on the account and ask for a copy of what is held, a correction, deletion of the account, or an end to newsletter emails. Newsletter emails can also be stopped from the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every one, and from the Account page.
Requests are answered within 5 business days, and acted on without undue delay.
People in the Text
The entries are edited from real conversations, so other people appear in them. Names of people, places and services are replaced with consistent alternatives before publication, and material that should not be public is removed before an entry is written.
If you appear in an entry and want something corrected or taken down, write to hi@byshug.com. You do not need an account to ask.
Children
This site is not intended for children under 16, and accounts are not knowingly created for them.
Changes
This policy can change. The date at the top says when it last did. A change that materially affects members is announced by email.