MapFan Terms of Use

Article 1 (Scope of Application)

“MapFan” (hereinafter referred to as the “Service”) is a map and map-related information search service operated and managed by GeoTechnologies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “GT”). These “MapFan” Terms of Use (hereinafter referred to as these “Terms”) set forth the terms and conditions regarding the use of the Service. The Service may only be used by users who have agreed to these Terms (hereinafter referred to as “Users”), and these Terms apply between GT and any person who uses the Service. Persons wishing to use the Service shall read, understand, and accept the contents of these Terms prior to using the Service. In addition, these Terms shall also apply to updated versions of the Service if the Service is updated.

Article 2 (Types and Details of the Service)

The Service is a search service for maps and various map-related information operating on a Web browser via the Internet. Certain functions of the Service operate within the communication application “LINE” provided by LINE Corporation. Users may use the Service exclusively within Japan.
Certain functions of the Service can only be used on specific terminals such as mobile devices and car navigation systems.
Certain services within the Service are provided exclusively to various types of registered members or paid members who have completed member registration in accordance with Article 3 of these Terms.

Article 3 (Membership Qualification)

A User becomes a member upon applying for registration as a member of the Service through procedures separately specified by GT and upon acceptance of such registration by GT. Users who become members shall continue to be bound by these Terms.
In the event of any changes to the registered membership information, the User shall register such changes without delay in accordance with the method prescribed by GT. GT shall bear no responsibility whatsoever for any damages or disadvantages incurred by the User due to the failure to perform such registration.
Users shall appropriately manage their member registration information under their own responsibility and shall not allow third parties other than the User to use, lend, transfer, change the name of, or buy/sell such member registration information.
Users shall bear responsibility for any damages arising from inadequate management of member registration information, errors in use, or use by third parties (including instances of impersonation), and GT shall bear no responsibility whatsoever.
If a User who has registered as a member wishes to delete their member registration, they shall notify GT through separate procedures prescribed by GT.

Article 4 (Prohibited Acts)

In using the Service, unless explicitly permitted within the Service, Users shall not engage in any of the following acts, nor any acts that GT reasonably determines, based on reasonable grounds, fall under any of the following:

(1) Reproducing, copying, duplicating, forwarding, extracting, processing, modifying, making transmittable, or engaging in any other secondary use of location information, map displays, search results, map-related information, or any other information/data provided within the Service (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Data”);

(2) Lending, selling, redistributing, publicly transmitting, sublicensing, or otherwise allowing third parties to use the Data;

(3) Infringing upon the rights of GT or other third parties regarding the Service (including but not limited to property rights, privacy rights, portrait rights, honor, credit, copyrights, trademark rights, and other intellectual property rights), causing disadvantage or damage to GT or third parties, or acts that pose a risk thereof;

(4) Deleting or altering copyright notices, cautionary statements, or disclaimers posted by GT;

(5) Using or distributing harmful computer programs such as computer viruses through or in connection with the Service;

(6) Interfering with, or posing a risk of interfering with, the operation of the Service;

(7) Demanding money or other benefits using the Service or Data, or using the Service for commercial or profit-making purposes;

(8) Acts that violate laws and regulations or acts related to criminal activities;

(9) Acts contrary to public order and morals, or providing information contrary to public order and morals to other Users or third parties;

(10) Providing information that is false or potentially false;

(11) Engaging in election campaigning or similar acts, regardless of whether it is during an election period;

(12) Damaging the credibility or reputation of the Service;

(13) Directly or indirectly inducing or facilitating any of the acts in the preceding items; or

(14) Any other acts that GT reasonably determines to be inappropriate based on reasonable grounds.

If a User performs any of the acts specified in the items of the preceding paragraph or violates these Terms, GT may, without prior notice to the User, temporarily suspend the provision of the Service to such User or terminate these Terms of Use. If such User is a member, GT may delete their member registration and refuse any application for re-registration.

Article 5 (Posted Information)

On the Service, Users may post and provide information such as text and images (including photographs). However, Users shall not post or provide information containing any of the following content:

(1) Personal information of the User or a third party (including but not limited to information that can identify a specific individual, such as name, address, contact information, face photo, etc.);

(2) Information that infringes upon third-party copyrights or other rights, such as photos taken by third parties;

(3) Content that disrupts social order, such as defamation, slander, libel, business disruption, or other rights infringements;

(4) False or exaggerated content, excessively violent expressions, explicit sexual expressions, expressions leading to discrimination based on race, nationality, creed, gender, social status, lineage, etc., expressions inducing or encouraging suicide, self-harm, or drug abuse, or other anti-social expressions that cause discomfort to others.

Users shall not use the Service as an advertising medium for third parties without prior written consent from GT.
Users shall not collect personal information through the Service.
At its sole discretion and without compensation to the User, GT may choose not to adopt or publish content intended for posting/provision by the User, or may cease storing or delete information posted by the User (hereinafter referred to as “Posted Information”) without prior notice. GT periodically deletes Posted Information in accordance with Service operation rules separately defined by GT.
Even if a User or GT deletes the User’s member registration, Posted Information published on the Service will continue to be displayed. GT will not return Posted Information for any reason whatsoever. GT shall bear no liability for compensation even if a User incurs damage as a result of measures taken by GT under the preceding paragraph or this paragraph.

Article 6 (Map Printing/Output Service)

Users may duplicate, save, and print out the Data in electronic or paper format solely within the scope of private use defined by the Copyright Act (for personal, household, or other equivalent scopes).
Paid members may duplicate, save, and print out the Data in electronic or paper format solely within the scope of business use (limited to use within the department, division, or equivalent organizational unit conducting said business).
Unless separately agreed in writing with GT, Users shall not distribute duplicates or printed copies of the Data to third parties, or engage in any other acts not explicitly permitted in the preceding paragraphs.
Special Provision for Off-site Printing Beta Feature: Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, paid members may distribute duplicates and printed copies of the Data to third parties using the Off-site Printing Beta feature. The specifications and conditions of use for the Off-site Printing Beta feature shall be as separately defined by GT.

Article 7 (Notes on Provided Information and Road Traffic Laws)

Location information, map information (including surrounding information), traffic information, route search results, and various information regarding facilities, stores, events, outing plans, etc., provided by the Service may differ from actual conditions. Furthermore, such information is subject to change without notice to the User. Users shall use route search functions provided by the Service at their own risk and must comply with actual traffic signals, traffic regulation signs/markings, and road conditions. The Service does not contain all facility names or information for hospitals, fire stations, police stations, etc.; therefore, do not use the Service for guidance to emergency facilities. Searched routes represent merely one example of a route to the destination calculated by the Service.
Operating or gazing at information terminals while operating motor vehicles, motorized bicycles, bicycles, or while walking is extremely dangerous. When operating or gazing at an information terminal, always stop the vehicle in a safe location first. GT bears no responsibility whatsoever for any accidents or incidents that occur while a User is operating or gazing at a mobile terminal.

Article 8 (Copyrights and Licensing of Posted Information)

All rights, including intellectual property rights such as copyrights and trademark rights, regarding all programs, software, map data, designs, screen information, trademarks, logos, etc., constituting the Service (excluding Posted Information), belong to GT or third parties who have licensed such rights to GT.
Copyrights concerning Posted Information belong to the author who created said Posted Information or other persons with legitimate authority. However, Users who post or provide Posted Information grant GT a royalty-free, perpetual license to use (including all acts of use such as reproduction, adaptation, reprinting, public transmission, and sublicensing to third parties) such Posted Information in other services or products provided by GT or third parties such as partner/collaborating companies. Furthermore, such Users accept that name attribution may be omitted when GT or such third parties use the Posted Information, and that Posted Information may be subject to modifications such as summarization, extraction, partial deletion, or editing.
In the event that any objection, claim, or demand (hereinafter “Claims”) is raised by a third party regarding Posted Information on the grounds of infringement of copyright or other rights, the User who posted such Posted Information shall resolve the Claims at their own responsibility and expense, and GT shall bear no responsibility whatsoever. If GT or a third party suffers damage in connection with such Claims, the User shall compensate for all damages.

Article 9 (Disclaimer)

GT makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for a particular purpose of any information provided in the Service, nor regarding normal operation or functionality on Users’ computers, mobile terminals, or other device environments.
GT makes no guarantees regarding the display of location information, bookmarks, routes, outing plans, or other information transmitted by Users using the Service on specific car navigation terminals (refer to here for eligible car navigation devices) or third-party service integration features, nor regarding the display of current vehicle location information transmitted from such car navigation terminals onto User devices.
Users may synchronize bookmarks registered in the Service onto GT servers; however, GT shall bear no responsibility for corruption or loss of bookmarks or any other damages incurred by Users due to synchronization failures not attributable to GT’s fault.
GT provides no guarantee, express or implied, that the Service does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Article 10 (Modification, Suspension, and Termination of Service)

GT may, at its sole discretion and without prior notice, improve, add to, suspend, modify, delete, or render inaccessible the content and distribution methods of the Service.
GT may suspend or halt the distribution of all or part of the Service without prior notice to Users in any of the following events:

(1) When necessary for periodic or emergency maintenance, construction, or troubleshooting of equipment required to deliver the Service;

(2) When delivery of the Service becomes impossible due to force majeure—such as suspension of telecommunications services by telecommunication carriers, suspension/modification of linked third-party services, fire, power outages, accidents, war, civil commotion, riots, labor disputes, natural disasters, or computer viruses—or other causes not attributable to GT;

(3) When GT determines that suspension is unavoidable for operational or technical reasons.

GT shall bear no liability for compensation even if Users suffer damages as a result of measures taken by GT pursuant to the preceding two paragraphs.

Article 11 (Amendments to these Terms)

GT may arbitrarily amend the contents of these Terms at any time.
In the case specified in the preceding paragraph, GT shall display a notice stating such amendments on official websites managed by GT or other designated locations. Such amendments shall not apply retroactively and shall become effective 14 days after the display of such notice. However, amendments addressing new functions of the Service or those based on legal grounds shall take effect immediately.
If a User continues to use the Service after the passage of the period specified in Paragraph 2, the User shall be deemed to have accepted such amendments.

Article 12 (Discontinuation of Service)

GT may discontinue the provision of the Service at its own convenience. If GT terminates the provision of the Service, GT shall notify Users in advance.
GT shall bear no responsibility whatsoever for any damages incurred by Users as a result of measures taken by GT pursuant to this Article.

Article 13 (Prohibition of Assignment)

Users may not transfer, assign, pledge as collateral, or otherwise dispose of any rights or obligations under these Terms to any third party.
If GT transfers the business related to the Service to another company, GT may transfer its contractual status under these Terms, rights and obligations based on these Terms, as well as User registration details and other User information to the transferee of such business, and Users shall be deemed to have agreed in advance to such transfer in this paragraph. The business transfer specified in this paragraph shall include not only standard business transfers but also corporate splits and all other instances where business is transferred.

Article 14 (Damages)

GT shall bear no liability for any damages (including but not limited to direct damages, indirect damages, special damages, incidental damages, consequential damages, and lost profits) incurred by Users or third parties in connection with the Service, regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph and other provisions of these Terms, if the User qualifies as a consumer under the Consumer Contract Act, the matter shall be handled as follows:

(1) GT shall compensate for damages incurred by the User due to GT’s intentional misconduct or gross negligence.

(2) In cases where GT bears liability for default or tort (excluding cases under the preceding item), GT shall compensate for damages. However, even in such cases, GT shall bear no compensation liability for indirect damages, special damages, incidental damages, consequential damages, or lost profits, regardless of foreseeability.

Article 15 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction)

The governing law of these Terms shall be Japanese law, and any disputes arising in connection with these Terms shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo Summary Court or the Tokyo District Court as the court of first instance.
These Terms are prepared in the Japanese language. Any translation of these Terms into English or any other language is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any conflict, discrepancy, or inconsistency between the Japanese version and the English or any translated version, the Japanese version shall prevail and govern in all respects.

Article 16 (Severability)

Matters not provided for in these Terms shall be handled in accordance with provisions separately established by GT.
If any provision of these Terms is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified or interpreted to maximum effect permitted by law to fulfill the original intent of the provision, and the validity of all other provisions of these Terms shall remain unaffected.

Regarding Map Data

For information regarding maps, please see: -> About Maps

Handling of Personal Information

Personal information acquired by GT from Users in connection with the use of the Service (hereinafter referred to as “Personal Information”) includes the following:

(1) Member registration information regarding the Service;

(2) Information acquired from Users through the use of the Service (including but not limited to the use of bookmark, outing plan, and destination reservation functions);

(3) Location information acquired through car navigation terminals when the User enables the my-car position display function in linkage with car navigation terminals;

(4) Information collected at the user support / document request desks of the Service;

(5) User’s (i) “Google ID” and (ii) “Google Calendar ID” provided for using the Google integration feature of this app;

(6) Information acquired from Users through the use of Web/LINE versions of the “MapFanAssist” service (including but not limited to bookmark, outing plan, and destination reservation functions), terminal identification information acquired from Users through the use of LINE version “MapFanAssist”, and location information acquired from Users through car navigation terminals when the my-car position display function in linkage with car navigation terminals is enabled.

GT handles Personal Information restricted strictly to the following purposes of use:

(1) Provision of the Service (member-only functions) and Google integration features;

(2) Provision of app version and Web/LINE version “MapFanAssist”, “KENWOOD MapFan Club”, “MapFan Smart Members”, or “Chizu-wari Plus” services provided by GT;

(3) Identification of Users;

(4) Information distribution regarding the Service;

(5) Customer support and after-sales service;

(6) Statistical understanding toward enhancing the Service, market research, usage analysis, other research/analysis, and creation of statistical data;

(7) Maintenance and improvement of the Service, and execution of promotional campaigns and events;

(8) Delivery of advertisements regarding products and services tailored to User needs and interests;

(9) Planning, development consideration, and provision of new products/services of GT, GT affiliate companies, or partner businesses; and

(10) Provision to third parties.

GT provides Personal Information to third parties (including but not limited to the third parties listed below, as well as other customer enterprise partners and affiliated businesses of GT). Personal Information provided to third parties will be utilized by such third parties for the following purposes of use (GT’s purpose of use for said Personal Information is as described in Paragraph 2 of this Article):

Purposes of Use: Provision of products/services offered by third parties, provision of information regarding such products/services, customer support/after-sales service, statistical understanding toward enhancing such products/services, market research, usage analysis/research, creation of statistical data, maintenance/improvement of such products/services, execution of promotional campaigns, delivery of advertisements tailored to customer needs and interests, and planning/development/provision of new products/services.

(1) JVCKENWOOD Corporation (Address: 3-12 Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa) (Purpose of Use: The above purposes of use and for providing “KENWOOD MapFan Club”)

(2) Pioneer Corporation (Address: 2-28-8 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo) (Purpose of Use: The above purposes of use and for providing “MapFan Smart Members” and “Chizu-wari Plus”)

GT may outsource Personal Information to external parties within the scope of agreed purposes of use. In such cases, GT selects contractors meeting sufficient personal information protection standards, executes agreements with appropriate contractors, and conducts proper supervision.
Users may refuse the collection of Personal Information by GT. However, please note in advance that if information necessary to achieve the purpose of use set forth under “Handling of Personal Information” is not submitted, Users may not receive corresponding benefits.
Users may request disclosure, notification of purpose of use, correction/addition/deletion, suspension of use, etc. (hereinafter “Disclosure, etc.”) regarding Personal Information. In such cases, GT will respond and reply promptly in accordance with GT’s prescribed procedures. Furthermore, since certain Personal Information items are essential for providing the Service, GT will cease collection only upon termination of Service use through GT’s prescribed procedures. For Disclosure, etc. requests, please contact the GT Inquiry Desk in Paragraph 7.
The inquiry desk for opinions, questions, and other inquiries regarding Personal Information handling is as follows:

Inquiry Desk: MapFan Support Center (GeoTechnologies, Inc.)

Trademarks & Vendor Notes

VICS: VICS is a registered trademark of Japan Road Traffic Information Center Foundation.
MAPCODE: “MAPCODE” and “マップコード” are registered trademarks of DENSO CORPORATION.
NaviCon: “NaviCon” is a registered trademark of DENSO CORPORATION.

Regarding Cookies

The Service utilizes Cookies for the purpose of ensuring a comfortable user experience on the Service website.

GT’s Purposes for Using Cookies:

To refer to stored information upon User login to provide customized content for each User.
To display the most relevant advertisements based on content of interest and Service usage status.
To improve the content and services of the Service.

Note: A portion of advertisements displayed on the Service is entrusted to third-party ad delivery companies (hereinafter “Ad Delivery Companies”). When customers visit pages displaying ads, Ad Delivery Companies may use Cookies to collect information. Information collected via Cookies is used solely for advertisement delivery purposes. Furthermore, such information is neither provided nor disclosed to GT, and is managed in accordance with the privacy policies established by each Ad Delivery Company. Please refer to the links below for privacy policies of major Ad Delivery Companies using Cookies on the Service: