Privacy Policy
Effective: August 8, 2026
Ukiyo-e.org (“we” or “us”), a service of Mongaku, LLC, is a free research database of Japanese woodblock prints, aggregating images and metadata from museums, universities, libraries, and other institutions around the world. There are no user accounts on this site, we sell nothing, and we never handle payments. This policy explains what little information we do collect, why, and the choices you have.
Information We Collect
We collect information in three ways:
- Images you upload. The image search feature lets you upload an image (or paste an image URL) to find matching prints. See “Image Uploads” below for how those are handled.
- Correspondence. If you email us, we keep the correspondence so we can respond.
- Usage information, collected automatically. We collect basic usage information — such as the pages visited and the searches run — using infrastructure that we operate ourselves, to understand how the site is used. We also use Sentry to collect errors and performance data; for a small sample of sessions, Sentry records a “session replay” of page interactions with all text masked and media blocked. Our infrastructure (Cloudflare) keeps standard server logs for a limited time.
The catalog itself — images, titles, and descriptions of prints — is collected from the public websites and APIs of the contributing institutions. That is information about artworks, not about you.
Image Uploads
- Uploaded images (and images fetched from URLs you paste) are stored on our infrastructure and made available at a public, unguessable URL so that search results can be revisited and shared. Anyone who has the link can view the image; the pages are not indexed by search engines.
- To find matches, the image is submitted as a search query to TinEye MatchEngine, an image-matching service operated by TinEye (Idée Inc., Canada). Your image is not added to TinEye’s index; TinEye’s handling of query images is described in TinEye’s privacy policy.
- Uploads are currently retained indefinitely. If you would like an upload removed, email us with the upload URL and we will delete it.
- Please only upload images of prints. Don’t upload images containing personal or sensitive information — uploads are publicly accessible.
How and Why We Use Information
We use the information above to run the image and text search features, to understand how the site is used and improve it, to monitor and protect the security of the service, and to comply with legal obligations. Where European or UK data protection law applies, our legal bases are our legitimate interests (operating, securing, and improving the site) and compliance with legal obligations.
How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the services that run the site:
- Cloudflare — hosting, storage, content delivery, and image processing.
- Sentry — error tracking and performance diagnostics.
- TinEye — image matching for the upload search feature.
Our text-search index runs on infrastructure that we operate ourselves. Beyond these providers, we disclose information only if required by law, as part of a business transfer, or with your consent. The About page embeds a video hosted by Vimeo, which sets its own cookies when that page is viewed.
Cookies
We do not set any cookies ourselves, and we do not use advertising or third-party analytics cookies. The video embedded on the About page is hosted by Vimeo, which sets its own cookies when that page is viewed. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
How Long We Keep Information
- Uploaded images are retained indefinitely; we delete them on request.
- Usage information is kept as aggregate statistics that do not identify you.
- Error and diagnostic data in Sentry is retained according to its retention schedule (typically 90 days), and server logs expire automatically after a limited period.
Your Rights and Choices
There are no accounts on ukiyo-e.org, so there is little to manage — but you can ask us to delete an upload, or contact us to access, correct, or delete any personal information we hold about you. If you are in the EU or UK, you have the rights provided by the GDPR and UK GDPR, including the right to complain to your supervisory authority. If you are a California resident: we do not sell or share your personal information as defined by the CCPA. If you are in Japan, we handle personal information in accordance with the APPI, and you may request disclosure, correction, or cessation of use by contacting us.
International Data Transfers
We operate from the United States. Our providers process data primarily in the United States and Canada (TinEye). If you use the site from elsewhere, including the EU, UK, or Japan, your information will be transferred to and processed in those countries, protected by appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses where the law requires them.
Children
The site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated policy on this page and change the effective date above.
How to Contact Us
Ukiyo-e.org is operated by Mongaku, LLC. If you have questions about this policy or want to exercise any of the rights described above, email privacy@ukiyo-e.org or write to us at:
Mongaku, LLC
418 Broadway STE N
Albany, New York 12207
United States
Attribution
This policy is adapted from Automattic’s open-source legal documents (available under CC BY-SA 4.0) and informed by 37signals’ open-source policies (available under CC BY 4.0). In the same spirit, you are welcome to reuse this policy under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.