Schoozy Terms of Service

Article 1 (General Provisions)

1. These Terms set forth the conditions for the use of “Schoozy” (URL: https://schoozy.com; hereinafter referred to as “the Service”), an information portal site for international schools, boarding schools, and preschools operated by ELT Education Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”).

2. All persons who use the Service (hereinafter referred to as “users”) shall use the Service upon agreeing to these Terms. By using the Service, users shall be deemed to have agreed to these Terms.

3. The authoritative text of these Terms shall be in Japanese. Even if these Terms are translated into languages other than Japanese, the Japanese version shall prevail, and in the event of any contradiction or discrepancy between the translated version and the Japanese version, the content of the Japanese version shall apply.

4. Any individual rules, guidelines, and policies published by the Company on the Service (including, but not limited to, the Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Community Guidelines) shall constitute a part of these Terms.

Article 2 (Definitions)

The definitions of terms used in these Terms shall be as follows.

• “The Service” refers to the collective services provided by the Company under the name “Schoozy,” including the provision of information about educational institutions such as international schools, boarding schools, and preschools, as well as search, comparison, review posting, agent matching, and other ancillary services.
• “Users” refers to all individuals and legal entities who use the Service.
• “Registered users” refers to users who have completed user registration pursuant to Article 4.
• “Posted content” refers to reviews, ratings, comments, images, and all other content posted, transmitted, or uploaded by registered users on the Service.
• “Listed schools” refers to educational institutions whose information is published on the Service.
• “Agents” refers to legal entities or individuals who provide educational consulting services through the Service.
• “Paid services” refers to those services within the Service that require the payment of usage fees.
• “Rights infringement report” refers to a request made by a person (including listed schools, teaching staff, parents/guardians, etc.) who claims that their rights have been infringed by posted content or other information on the Service, requesting the deletion of such information or transmission prevention measures through the method prescribed by the Company.

Article 3 (Amendments to These Terms)

1. The Company may amend these Terms without obtaining individual consent from users in any of the following cases.

• When the amendment to these Terms is in the general interest of users.
• When the amendment to these Terms does not conflict with the purpose of the contract pertaining to the use of the Service, and is reasonable in light of the necessity of the amendment, the appropriateness of the amended content, and other circumstances pertaining to the amendment.

2. When amending these Terms pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Company shall notify users of the fact that these Terms will be amended, the content of the amended Terms, and the effective date of the amendment, by means of display on the Service or other methods deemed appropriate by the Company, a reasonable period prior to the effective date of the amended Terms.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, for amendments to these Terms that require the consent of users under applicable laws and regulations, the Company shall obtain the consent of users by means deemed appropriate by the Company.

Article 4 (User Registration)

1. In order to use certain features of the Service (such as review posting, favorites registration, and agent matching), users must complete user registration through the method prescribed by the Company.

2. Applicants for user registration must provide truthful, accurate, and up-to-date information to the Company at the time of registration.

3. User registration for the Service is limited to persons aged 16 or older. Persons aged 16 or older but under 18 must obtain the consent of a legal guardian before registering, and must provide the Company with the legal guardian’s email address at the time of registration. The Company shall send a confirmation notice to the provided email address to verify the legal guardian’s consent. The Company may conduct age verification at the time of registration.

4. The Company may decline to approve a registration application if the applicant falls under any of the following categories, and shall have no obligation to disclose the reasons therefor.

• The information provided to the Company contains false statements, errors, or omissions
• The applicant does not meet the age requirements set forth in Paragraph 3
• The applicant is aged 16 or older but under 18, and the consent of a legal guardian could not be confirmed
• The applicant falls under the category of anti-social forces, etc. (as defined in Article 18), or is cooperating with or involved in the maintenance, operation, or management of anti-social forces, etc. through financial contributions or other means
• The applicant has previously violated these Terms
• The Company otherwise reasonably determines that the user registration is not appropriate

5. Registered users shall promptly update their registration information through the method prescribed by the Company whenever any changes occur in their registration information.

Article 5 (Account Management)

1. Registered users shall appropriately manage and safeguard their account information for the Service at their own responsibility, and shall not allow third parties to use, or lend, transfer, change the name of, sell, or otherwise dispose of their account.

2. The registered user shall bear responsibility for any damage arising from inadequate management of account information, errors in use, or use by third parties. The Company shall bear no liability whatsoever, except in cases where the Company has acted with willful misconduct or gross negligence.

3. If a registered user becomes aware that their account information has been stolen or is being used by a third party, the registered user shall immediately notify the Company and follow the Company’s instructions.

Article 6 (Service Content)

1. The Service provides the following features. However, the details and scope of these features may be changed at any time at the Company’s discretion.

• Publication and search of information about educational institutions such as international schools, boarding schools, and preschools
• School information comparison feature
• Multilingual information provision
• Posting and viewing of reviews and ratings (for registered users)
• Matching with educational agents (for registered users)
• Other features provided by the Company from time to time

2. School information provided through the Service has been independently collected and organized by the Company, and may differ from the information officially provided by each educational institution. For the most current and accurate information, please contact the respective educational institution directly.

3. The Service does not guarantee admission to any particular educational institution, nor does it endorse or recommend any particular educational institution.

4. If information about a listed school on the Service contains errors, the listed school may apply for correction of such information through the method prescribed by the Company. The Company shall endeavor to respond within a reasonable period after confirming the content of the application.

5. When the Service displays school rankings or scores, the criteria used to calculate them (including the evaluation categories used, weighting, etc.) shall be disclosed on the Service. If the existence of paid listings affects the rankings, this fact shall be clearly stated.

Article 7 (Usage Fees and Payment Methods)

1. The basic browsing features of the Service are available free of charge.

2. The usage fees, payment methods, payment timing, and other details of paid services shall be separately set forth on the Service.

3. If a registered user is late in paying usage fees for paid services, the registered user shall pay the Company late payment damages at an annual rate of 14.6%.

4. The Company may change the usage fees for paid services. In the event of a fee change, the Company shall provide notice on the Service at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the change.

Article 8 (Prohibited Activities)

Users shall not engage in any of the following activities, or activities that the Company reasonably determines fall under any of the following categories, when using the Service.

• Activities that violate laws, regulations, or public order and morals
• Activities related to criminal acts
• Activities that infringe upon the intellectual property rights, portrait rights, privacy, honor, reputation, or other rights or interests of the Company, listed schools, other users, or third parties
• Posting or registering false information
• Persons affiliated with a listed school (including officers, teaching staff, employees, and their family members) posting reviews favorable to their own school while concealing such affiliation, or posting reviews unfavorable to competing schools (stealth marketing)
• Posting reviews in exchange for money, discounts, benefits, or other consideration without disclosing such fact, or requesting third parties to make such posts
• Providing information obtained through the Service to third parties for commercial purposes (except where otherwise authorized by the Company)
• Placing an excessive load on the Service’s servers or networks
• Activities that may interfere with the operation of the Service
• Unauthorized access to the Service, or attempting to do so
• Tampering with information on the Service
• Collecting data from the Service through scraping, crawling, or other automated means (except where otherwise authorized by the Company)
• Unauthorized use of another user’s account
• Using the Service to directly or indirectly provide benefits to anti-social forces, etc.
• Harassment, defamation, threats, or stalking directed at other users of the Service or third parties
• Activities intended to meet strangers of the opposite sex
• Engaging in religious activities, political activities, or election campaigns on the Service
• Activities that directly or indirectly cause or facilitate any of the foregoing activities
• Other activities that the Company reasonably determines to be inappropriate

Article 9 (Posted Content)

Article 10 (Rights Infringement Reports and Transmission Prevention Measures)

Article 11 (Intellectual Property Rights)

1. All intellectual property rights related to the Service (excluding those pertaining to posted content) shall belong to the Company or the persons who have granted licenses to the Company.

2. The license to use the Service under these Terms does not constitute a license to use the intellectual property rights of the Company or the persons who have granted licenses to the Company with respect to the Service.

3. Users shall not reproduce, adapt, publicly transmit, distribute, lend, or otherwise use content provided through the Service without the prior written consent of the Company. However, this shall not apply to use within the scope of private use.

Article 12 (Handling of Personal Information)

1. The Company shall handle users’ personal information appropriately in accordance with the Company’s separately established Privacy Policy.

2. The Company shall handle personal information obtained from users in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (Act No. 57 of 2003, as amended) and other relevant laws, regulations, and guidelines.

3. When the Service handles personal data of users residing in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the Company shall comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws and regulations. Details shall be set forth in the Privacy Policy.

4. In providing the Service, the Company may use cookies and similar technologies. Details regarding the use of such technologies shall be set forth in the Company’s separately established Cookie Policy.

5. The Company shall not knowingly collect personal information of persons under the age of 16 without the consent of a parent or legal guardian. If it is discovered that personal information of a person under 16 has been collected without consent, the Company shall promptly take measures to delete such information.

Article 13 (Display of Advertising and Promotions)

1. When a listed school has enhanced its profile through paid services on the Service (premium listings), or when the Service includes priority placement in search results, banner advertisements, sponsored content, or other advertising, the Company shall clearly indicate this fact.

2. Reviews and ratings on the Service are voluntarily posted by users, and the content of reviews is not influenced by the existence of paid listings. The Company shall not discriminatorily edit, delete, or hide reviews based on the existence of a paid contract with a listed school.

Article 14 (Disclaimer and Non-Warranty)

1. The Company makes no warranty whatsoever, whether express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, currency, usefulness, reliability, legality, or fitness for a particular purpose of the information provided through the Service (including, but not limited to, school information, reviews, and agent information).

2. The Company does not warrant that the Service will be suitable for any particular purpose of the user, will have the expected functionality, commercial value, accuracy, or usefulness, will be free from defects, or will be free from security vulnerabilities, errors, bugs, or inaccurate information.

3. Except in cases caused by the Company’s willful misconduct or gross negligence, the Company shall bear no liability whatsoever for any damage incurred by users arising from or in connection with the Service. However, if the contract between the Company and a user under these Terms constitutes a consumer contract as defined in the Consumer Contract Act (Act No. 61 of 2000), the Company’s exemption from liability under this paragraph shall not apply, and the following paragraph shall apply instead.

4. Even in cases where the Company bears liability for damages to a user, such liability shall, except in cases of the Company’s willful misconduct or gross negligence, be limited to ordinary damages directly and actually incurred by the user, and the amount of compensation shall be capped at the total amount of usage fees paid by such user to the Company during the 12-month period preceding the occurrence of the event giving rise to the damage. For users using the Service free of charge, the Company shall bear no liability whatsoever, except in cases of the Company’s willful misconduct or gross negligence.

5. All transactions, communications, negotiations, and other dealings between users and listed schools or agents conducted through the Service shall be conducted directly between the user and the relevant listed school or agent, and the Company shall bear no liability whatsoever for such dealings.

Article 15 (Changes, Suspension, and Termination of the Service)

1. The Company may change the content of the Service or suspend the provision of the Service without prior notice to users. However, for changes that have a significant impact on users, the Company shall endeavor to provide notice a reasonable period in advance.

2. The Company may temporarily suspend the provision of all or part of the Service in any of the following cases.

• When conducting inspection or maintenance of servers, communication lines, or other equipment related to the Service
• When the operation of the Service becomes difficult due to failures of computers, communication lines, or other equipment, erroneous operations, excessive concentration of access, unauthorized access, hacking, or other such causes
• When the provision of the Service becomes difficult due to force majeure events such as earthquakes, lightning, fires, storms, floods, power outages, natural disasters, or other similar events
• When the provision of the Service becomes difficult due to laws, regulations, or measures based thereon
• When the Company otherwise reasonably determines that suspension is necessary

3. The Company may, at its discretion, terminate the provision of all or part of the Service. In such cases, the Company shall notify users at least 30 days prior to the termination.

4. The Company shall bear no liability whatsoever for any damage incurred by users arising from measures taken by the Company pursuant to this Article, except in cases where the Company has acted with willful misconduct or gross negligence.

Article 16 (Deregistration and Suspension of Use)

1. The Company may, without prior notice or demand, delete posted content, temporarily suspend or restrict the use of the Service, or deregister the account of a registered user who falls under any of the following categories.

• The registered user has violated any provision of these Terms
• It has been discovered that the registration information contains false information
• The registered user has suspended or become unable to make payments
• The registered user has not used the Service for 12 months or more
• The registered user has failed to respond to inquiries from the Company for 30 days or more
• The registered user falls under any of the categories set forth in Article 4, Paragraph 4
• The Company otherwise reasonably determines that continued use of the Service is not appropriate

2. The Company shall bear no liability whatsoever for any damage incurred by a registered user as a result of measures taken pursuant to the preceding paragraph, except in cases where the Company has acted with willful misconduct or gross negligence.

Article 17 (Withdrawal)

1. Registered users may withdraw and cancel their user registration at any time through the method prescribed by the Company.

2. Upon withdrawal, if the user has any outstanding debts to the Company, the user shall automatically lose the benefit of time with respect to all debts owed to the Company, and shall immediately pay all such debts in full.

3. The handling of personal information after withdrawal shall be governed by the Company’s Privacy Policy.

4. Even after withdrawal, the provisions of Article 9, Paragraphs 3 and 4 shall continue to remain in effect.

Article 18 (Exclusion of Anti-Social Forces)

1. Users shall represent and warrant that they do not, now or in the future, fall under the category of organized crime groups (boryokudan), members of organized crime groups, persons for whom fewer than 5 years have elapsed since ceasing to be a member of an organized crime group, associate members of organized crime groups, companies related to organized crime groups, corporate extortionists (sokaiya), groups engaging in social movements for extortion purposes, groups engaging in criminal activities under the guise of special intelligence, or any other equivalent persons (hereinafter referred to as “anti-social forces, etc.”).

2. If a user breaches the representations and warranties set forth in the preceding paragraph, the Company may immediately suspend the user’s use of the Service or deregister the user’s account without any prior demand.

Article 19 (Damages)

If a user violates these Terms or causes damage to the Company through fraudulent or unlawful conduct, the user shall compensate the Company for such damage (including attorney’s fees).

Article 20 (Notices)

1. Notices from the Company to users shall be made by posting on the Service, sending emails, or by other methods deemed appropriate by the Company.

2. When a notice pursuant to the preceding paragraph is made by posting on the Service, the notice shall be deemed to have reached the user at the time the posting is displayed.

3. When a notice pursuant to Paragraph 1 is made by sending an email, the notice shall be deemed to have reached the user at the time the Company sends the email to the email address registered by the user.

Article 21 (Prohibition of Assignment of Rights and Obligations)

1. Users shall not assign or pledge as security any rights or obligations under these Terms, or their contractual status under these Terms, to any third party without the prior written consent of the Company.

2. In the event that the Company transfers the business related to the Service to another company, the Company may transfer its contractual status under these Terms, the rights and obligations under these Terms, and users’ registration information and other customer information to the transferee of such business transfer, and users shall be deemed to have consented in advance to such transfer under this paragraph. The term “business transfer” as used in this paragraph shall include corporate splits and all other cases where business is transferred.

Article 22 (Severability)

Even if any provision or part thereof of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable under the Consumer Contract Act or other applicable laws and regulations, the remaining provisions of these Terms shall continue in full force and effect.

Article 23 (Survival)

Even after the termination of these Terms, the following provisions shall continue to remain in effect: Article 1, Paragraph 3 (Language Clause), Article 5, Paragraph 2 (Account Management Responsibility), Article 9, Paragraphs 3 through 8 (Posted Content), Article 10 (Rights Infringement Reports and Transmission Prevention Measures), Article 11 (Intellectual Property Rights), Article 12 (Handling of Personal Information), Article 14 (Disclaimer and Non-Warranty), Article 17, Paragraphs 2 through 4 (Post-Withdrawal Processing), Article 18 (Exclusion of Anti-Social Forces), Article 19 (Damages), Article 21 (Prohibition of Assignment of Rights and Obligations), Article 22 (Severability), this Article, and Article 24 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction).

Article 24 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction)

1. These Terms shall be governed by the laws of Japan.

2. Any and all disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court as the court of first instance.