Privacy Policy (Test Takers and Organizations)

ELT Education Inc. (“ELT,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates PCAT (Practical English Test), an online English proficiency assessment service (the “Service”). This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information relating to Test Takers, purchasers, Organization Staff and other individuals in connection with the Service.

This Policy forms part of ELT's Privacy Policy (the “privacy hub”), which sets out the matters common to all ELT services. Our contact point, your rights and how to exercise them, our security measures, our approach to international transfers and how to complain to a supervisory authority are set out in the privacy hub. This Policy sets out what is specific to the Service.

Summary

• Audio and video recording: your Speaking answers are recorded and kept for two years from the Test date. The camera is optional; if you use it, we record video during the Test and keep it for one year (Article 3, Article 7).
• AI scoring: answers are scored using AI. Speaking audio is sent to OpenAI in the United States for transcription, and Anthropic in the United States is used to write and translate scoring feedback and learning plans. We do not use your answers or audio to train AI foundation models (Article 5, Article 9).
• Tests arranged by an organization: if your employer or another organization arranges your Test, we share your results and the records of your Test session (camera use, focus loss and attempted restricted actions) with that organization. We do not share your audio or video (Article 10).
• Analytics: the service website (eltpcat.com) uses Google Analytics to understand how it is used. For visitors from the UK and the EU, and visitors whose location cannot be determined, we do not load it until you consent. How to opt out is explained in Article 11. The test app and the Organization Portal do not use analytics.
• Contact: please send requests and questions about personal information to privacy@elteduc.com (Article 13). If you live in the UK or the EU, please also see Article 17.

Article 1 (Business Operator and Contact)

The business operator handling personal information in connection with the Service (the controller under UK and EU law) is ELT Education Inc. (株式会社ELTエデュケーション), 5-32-12 Shiba, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0014, Japan; Representative Director: Tatsuya TANAKA. Our name, address and representative are listed in chapter 2 of the privacy hub, and the postal address and languages of our contact point in chapter 3.

• The Service: test app https://app.eltpcat.com/ / Organization Portal https://org.eltpcat.com/ / service website https://eltpcat.com/
• Privacy contact: privacy@elteduc.com

Article 2 (Who This Policy Applies To)

This Policy applies to:

1. individuals who create an account for the Service;
2. individuals who purchase Credits;
3. individuals who take PCAT;
4. employees, officers, job candidates, learners and other individuals who take PCAT through a company or other organization;
5. individuals who contact ELT in relation to the Service;
6. individuals who use the Organization Portal of the Service (https://org.eltpcat.com/, the functionality through which a Corporate Customer registers Test Takers, views test results and otherwise manages testing) on behalf of a Corporate Customer (“Organization Staff”);
7. individuals who visit the service website (https://eltpcat.com/); and
8. other individuals whose personal information ELT processes in connection with the Service.

Where a company or other organization arranges a Test for another person, the contracting party and the Test Taker may be different persons.

Article 3 (Information We Collect)

We may collect the following information in connection with the Service.

1. Account and Basic Information

• name;
• email address;
• account ID and other identifiers used within the Service;
• employer, organization or other profile information entered by the User.

We do not collect date of birth, gender, nationality or similar information.

2. Google Account Information

If a User signs in using a Google account, we receive information from Google that is necessary to authenticate the User and create or operate the PCAT account.

We receive the information covered by the OpenID Connect openid, email and profile scopes: the Google account identifier, email address, name and profile image.

ELT does not obtain the User's Google account password.

3. Payment Information

Payments for Credits and other charges relating to the Service are processed through Stripe.

We may receive or access information relating to a transaction, including:

• purchase amount;
• number of Credits purchased;
• date and time of payment;
• payment status;
• Stripe customer IDs, payment IDs and other transaction identifiers;
• card-related information made available to ELT by Stripe;
• billing information; and
• other information necessary for payment processing.

The Service uses Stripe Checkout. Card numbers, expiration dates and security codes are entered on a payment page hosted by Stripe and are never received or stored by ELT. We store the payment identifiers issued by Stripe, the number of Credits purchased and whether the payment succeeded.

4. Audio Recorded During a Test

A microphone is required for the Speaking portion of PCAT. We record the Test Taker's spoken responses.

Audio is used primarily for:

• scoring Speaking performance;
• speech recognition;
• generating Score Reports;
• quality assurance;
• reviewing suspected Misconduct or Test incidents; and
• improving test items and scoring quality.

Audio is retained for two years from the date of the Test.

Access to audio is, as a matter of policy, restricted to ELT personnel and service providers who are authorized and have a business need to access it for the operation of the Service, scoring, quality assurance, integrity review, incident handling or related purposes.

5. Video Recorded During a Test

A Test Taker may choose to enable the browser camera during the Test. PCAT itself may be taken with the camera disabled.

If the camera is enabled, video of the Test session is recorded.

Video is used primarily for:

• reviewing the testing environment;
• assisting with identity verification;
• detecting and investigating impersonation or other Misconduct;
• responding to Test-related inquiries or challenges; and
• protecting the integrity and reliability of the Service.

Video is retained for one year from the date of the Test. Because video affects privacy more significantly than audio or written responses, we limit this period to what is necessary for integrity review and for handling challenges.

Access to video is, as a matter of policy, restricted to ELT personnel and service providers who are authorized and have a business need to access it for integrity review, identity verification, inquiry handling, system operation or related purposes.

Even where a Corporate Customer has arranged the Test, we do not provide the Test video itself to the Corporate Customer or make it available for viewing. What we provide to a Corporate Customer is limited to the Test results and the record of the Test session described in Article 10 (whether the camera was enabled, the number and duration of focus-loss events, and the number of attempted restricted actions).

Because audio and video may reveal a Test Taker's speech, behavior and surroundings and therefore involve a high degree of privacy sensitivity, ELT limits their purposes of use and access to what is reasonably necessary.

6. Test Responses

We collect responses submitted or spoken by Test Takers in connection with Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking and other Test items.

This may include:

• multiple-choice responses;
• written responses;
• spoken responses and transcripts generated from those responses; and
• other answers submitted through the Service.

We use Test responses for scoring, Score Report generation, quality assurance, integrity review, and improvement of test items and assessment methods.

7. Test-Session Activity Logs

To protect test integrity and assess the reliability of Score Reports, the Service detects and records certain activities during a Test, including:

• attempts to copy;
• attempts to paste;
• attempts to print;
• attempts to use the right-click function;
• attempts to use in-page search;
• the number of times focus leaves the screen, tab or window in which the Service is displayed;
• the duration of focus-loss events;
• records of exiting full-screen mode; and
• records of Test audio playback stopping other than through an on-screen action.

These activity records are displayed in the Score Report.

Activity logs are used as one source of information in reviewing possible Misconduct. A recorded activity does not, by itself, automatically establish that Misconduct occurred.

8. Device, Network and Technical Information

When the Service is accessed or used, we may automatically collect:

• IP address;
• browser type and version;
• operating system and device information;
• date and time of access;
• access logs;
• session information;
• error information;
• connectivity information;
• information collected through cookies and similar technologies (Article 11);
• the User-Agent string identifying the browser and device; and
• the display language setting.

9. Information Provided by Corporate Customers

If a Corporate Customer arranges a Test for an employee, candidate or other person, we may receive information about the Test Taker from that Corporate Customer, such as the Test Taker's name, email address and other information necessary to arrange and administer the Test.

Specifically, we receive the Test Taker's name and email address. Any other information received from a Corporate Customer is specified in the relevant individual agreement.

10. Inquiry Information

When an individual contacts us, we may collect:

• name;
• email address;
• organization (company or organization name, department and job title);
• telephone number;
• content of the inquiry (including the inquiry category and the expected number of Test Takers);
• communication history; and
• other information voluntarily provided by the individual.

When an inquiry is submitted through the business contact form on the service website (https://eltpcat.com/), we also automatically collect the following at the time of submission:

• IP address and the country and region estimated from it;
• the browser's time zone, language setting and screen resolution;
• the User-Agent string identifying the browser and device;
• the page from which the form was submitted, the first page viewed on the service website and the page viewed immediately before;
• the referring page from which the individual arrived at the service website;
• advertising and campaign identifiers (utm parameters added to the URL and ad click IDs); and
• the Google Analytics client ID.

11. Information About Organization Staff

When Organization Staff use the Organization Portal, we collect the following information:

• name (including its romanized form) and email address;
• the Corporate Customer to which the person belongs, their role and assigned departments;
• display language and other settings;
• password (stored only in a non-reversible form; the password itself is not stored);
• two-step verification settings (stored encrypted);
• the date, time and version of the person's agreement to the Terms of Use and this Policy;
• the date, time and outcome of sign-ins; and
• records of actions in the Organization Portal (such as registering Test Takers, allocating Credits, and viewing or exporting test results), including the date and time of each action and the IP address and User-Agent used.

An Organization Staff account is created through an invitation from another member of the Corporate Customer's Organization Staff, or from ELT at the Corporate Customer's request. When an invitation is issued, we receive the invitee's name and email address from the person issuing it.

12. Browser Push Notifications

Only if you allow notifications in your browser while using the test app, we store the delivery details your browser issues (the delivery address and encryption keys) with your account. We use them to tell you, for example, that scoring is complete. The text of each notification passes through the delivery route described in Article 8. You can turn notifications off at any time in your browser settings.

Article 4 (Purposes of Processing)

We use personal information and other data for the following purposes. The legal bases under UK and EU law are set out in Article 17.

1. Providing and Operating the Service

• creating, authenticating and managing accounts;
• identifying Users and Test Takers;
• enabling Google sign-in;
• processing and managing purchases and Credits;
• processing payments;
• administering Tests and enabling eligible Test sessions to be resumed;
• responding to inquiries;
• providing proposals, quotes and other information to organizations in response to their inquiries; and
• delivering important Service notices, and browser push notifications that the Test Taker has allowed.

2. Scoring and Generating Score Reports

• scoring Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing performance;
• processing responses using AI, large language models and speech recognition;
• generating CEFR-based level information and other PCAT assessment results;
• generating, displaying and providing Score Reports;
• generating learning plans based on scoring results;
• performing scoring quality assurance; and
• conducting human review of certain scoring results where appropriate.

3. Identity Verification and Test Integrity

• verifying or assisting in verifying the identity of Test Takers;
• detecting, investigating and preventing impersonation and other Misconduct;
• reviewing copy, paste and other restricted activities;
• reviewing focus-loss and other Test-session behavior;
• reviewing potentially compromised Test results;
• investigating score validity; and
• preventing security abuse and unauthorized use.

4. Service Improvement and Quality Assurance

• improving Service features, user interface and usability;
• investigating and correcting errors and incidents;
• evaluating the accuracy and consistency of scoring;
• quality assurance of speech recognition and other scoring processes;
• statistical analysis of Service usage; and
• understanding how inquiries reach us and improving how we present the Service.

5. Improvement of Test Items and Assessment Quality

• analyzing item difficulty, discrimination and other item performance;
• improving question wording and formats;
• improving scoring criteria and assessment methods;
• developing, tuning and evaluating scoring models dedicated to PCAT (internally within ELT only — see Article 5.3);
• identifying problematic test items or scoring behavior; and
• improving the overall quality and reliability of PCAT.

Where identification of an individual is not necessary, we will endeavor, where appropriate, to use anonymization, pseudonymization, aggregation or other techniques that reduce direct identifiability.

6. Legal Compliance and Dispute Handling

• complying with applicable law;
• protecting ELT's rights and property;
• investigating violations of applicable Terms of Use; and
• handling disputes, claims, inquiries and challenges.

7. Providing the Organization Portal

• authenticating Organization Staff, verifying their identity and managing their accounts;
• controlling what each member of Organization Staff can view and do according to their role and departments;
• preventing, detecting and investigating unauthorized access to the Organization Portal;
• reporting to and providing explanations to the Corporate Customer about actions taken in the Organization Portal;
• responding to inquiries and personal-information requests from Test Takers (including telling them which Corporate Customer viewed or exported their test results and when);
• sending invitations, password resets, Credit balance alerts and other notices relating to the Organization Portal; and
• responding to inquiries from Organization Staff.

Article 5 (AI-Assisted Scoring and Use of Data)

1. AI Scoring

The Service uses large language models, speech recognition and other AI technologies to score Test Taker responses.

Accordingly, written responses, Speaking audio or transcripts, test-item information and other data necessary for scoring may be processed using AI systems.

After scoring, AI generates a learning plan (suggestions on how to study and recommended materials) based on the scores for each skill and dimension, the CEFR-based level and the scoring feedback. Names, organizations and email addresses are not used to generate learning plans.

2. Human Review

For quality assurance, integrity review, inquiry handling or other purposes reasonably necessary to operate the Service, authorized ELT personnel or service providers may review responses, audio, video, scores and other relevant information.

3. Use of Test Data for AI Model Training or Improvement

Whether Test Taker responses, audio, video or other personal data are used to train or retrain ELT's own AI models or the foundation or general-purpose models of an AI service provider is as follows.

We do not use Test Taker responses, audio, video or other personal data to train or retrain any general-purpose or foundation AI model, whether our own or an AI service provider's. Nor do we supply such data to a third party for the training of its AI models.

Azure OpenAI Service (Microsoft), the OpenAI API (OpenAI) and the Claude API (Anthropic), which we use for scoring, transcription of Speaking audio, translation of scoring feedback and generation of learning plans, each state that data submitted through their APIs is not used to train foundation models by default. We use these services with those default settings.

We may, however, use Test Taker responses, audio and scoring results internally within ELT to improve the scoring accuracy and item quality of PCAT. Video recorded during a Test is used only for the purposes set out in Article 3.5 (integrity review and related purposes) and is not used for this purpose. This use includes:

• comparing machine scores against human ratings, and tuning and validating scoring criteria, scoring prompts and assessment methods;
• developing, tuning (including fine-tuning) and evaluating scoring models dedicated to PCAT; and
• analyzing item difficulty and discrimination, and detecting problematic items or scoring behavior.

This use is carried out internally, for the operation and quality improvement of PCAT, and is distinct from training a general-purpose or foundation AI model. Where identification of an individual is not necessary for that purpose, we apply anonymization, pseudonymization or other techniques that reduce direct identifiability as far as practicable before use. Access is limited to personnel who need it for their work.

4. Nature of Automated Processing

PCAT generates scores using automated AI-assisted processing. Certain scoring results may also be reviewed by a human. If you have doubts about a result, you may ask for it to be re-checked through the procedure set out in the Terms of Use.

Where a Corporate Customer uses PCAT in recruitment, placement or another employment context, ELT does not itself make the final recruitment, placement, promotion, termination or other employment decision.

Article 6 (Data Storage Location)

1. Test audio, video and written response data, together with account information and other data held in the Service database, are stored in the Japan East region of Microsoft Azure.
2. For AI scoring, transcription of Speaking audio, translation of scoring feedback, generation of learning plans or other processing, data (including test audio) may be transmitted to AI service providers or other processors located outside Japan, or processed outside Japan. Even in that case, the audio, video and written responses that ELT stores remain stored in the location described in paragraph 1. See Articles 8 and 9 for further information.
3. Backups are stored in the same region as production data (Japan). Under our current configuration, we do not replicate data to a geographically separate region (geo-redundancy).

Article 7 (Retention and Deletion)

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, comply with applicable law, address disputes or integrity investigations, or satisfy other legitimate retention requirements. We then delete, anonymize or otherwise appropriately dispose of the data.

1. Account Information

Retention period: for as long as the account exists. After an account is deleted, information is retained for no more than three years from the date of deletion (excluding information we are required by law to keep, payment records, and information needed for a dispute or integrity investigation).

Where deletion of an account is requested, we will, within 30 days after confirming the request, delete the account information from our production environment or process it into a form that does not identify an individual. Information that we are required by law to retain, payment records and information necessary for a dispute or an integrity investigation will be retained for the period required. Audio, video and responses are retained until the periods in paragraphs 2 to 4 expire. Erasure from backups is addressed in paragraph 8 below.

2. Audio

Retention period: two years from the date of the Test.

Following expiration of the retention period, audio will be deleted or rendered non-identifiable unless continued retention is required by law or reasonably necessary for a dispute, integrity investigation or similar matter.

3. Video

Retention period: one year from the date of the Test.

Because video involves heightened privacy considerations, this period is shorter than the periods applied to audio and to written responses, and reflects the time reasonably necessary for integrity review, identity verification, challenge handling and related purposes.

4. Written Responses and Scoring Data

Retention period: five years from the date of the Test. This period is longer than the periods applied to audio and video so that we can reissue Score Reports and respond to requests about a Test Taker's testing history. Learning plans are kept for the same period.

Where responses are used for longer-term analysis to improve test items and scoring methods, we will apply anonymization, pseudonymization or other safeguards as appropriate.

5. Activity Records and System Logs

Retention period: activity records from a Test session form part of the Score Report and are retained for the same period as in paragraph 4 above. System logs (access logs, application logs and records of access to stored data) are retained for 90 days from the date they are collected.

6. Payment Information

Retention period: in ELT's databases, seven years from the last day of the fiscal year in which the transaction occurred, reflecting statutory bookkeeping-retention requirements. Retention within Stripe is governed by Stripe's own terms.

7. Corporate-Customer Data

The handling of data when a corporate agreement ends or a Corporate Customer requests deletion will be governed by the applicable agreement and applicable law.

Unless the applicable agreement provides otherwise, we will delete the Test Taker information received from a Corporate Customer within 90 days after that corporate agreement ends. A Test Taker's own account information and Test results are retained in accordance with the periods set out in this Article as they apply to the Test Taker.

8. Backups

Information deleted from production systems may remain in system backups for a limited period.

Database backups expire automatically after seven days. Information deleted from the production environment is therefore also erased from backups no later than the expiry of that period.

9. Organization Staff Information

• Account information (the name, email address, settings and authentication information described in Article 3, paragraph 11): for as long as the account exists. Within 90 days after the person's registration has been removed by every Corporate Customer to which they belonged, or after the Corporate Customer's contract ends, we delete the account information or process it into a form that does not identify an individual. Where the person requests deletion, we do so within 30 days after confirming the request, as in paragraph 1.
• Records of actions in the Organization Portal (including sign-in records): three years from the end of the Corporate Customer's contract. We keep these records longer than the account information so that we can account for actions to the Corporate Customer and to Test Takers. Once the account information has been deleted or processed, the records can no longer be matched to the person's name or email address.
• Files exported from the Organization Portal: seven days from creation, after which they are deleted from our servers. Once Organization Staff have downloaded a file, it is managed by the Corporate Customer as described in Article 10, paragraph 4.

10. Push Notification Delivery Details

Retention period: until you withdraw permission for notifications or delete your account. If the browser invalidates the delivery details, we delete them at that point.

11. Analytics Data

Data collected through Google Analytics is retained for 14 months from the date it is collected.

Article 8 (Service Providers and Processing on Our Behalf)

We may engage service providers to process personal data on our behalf to the extent necessary to provide the Service.

Key service providers or service categories include the following.

1. Microsoft Azure

• Purpose: hosting, storage, infrastructure, delivery of browser push notifications (Azure Notification Hubs) and related services
• Provider: Microsoft (Microsoft Azure)
• Primary storage location: Japan region (Japan East)
• Data: account information, audio, video, written responses, scores, logs, push notification delivery details and other data necessary to operate the Service

2. AI and Speech Recognition Services

We use four services.

(a) Azure OpenAI Service (Microsoft)

• Purpose: scoring of Writing and Speaking responses
• Data processed: written responses, Speaking transcripts, test-item information
• Processing location: because ELT uses an Azure global deployment, data may be processed in Microsoft data centers, including data centers outside Japan

(b) Azure AI Speech (Microsoft)

• Purpose: pronunciation assessment of Speaking audio, and transcription of Speaking audio where (d) is not used or (d) cannot produce a transcript
• Data processed: test audio
• Processing location: Japan region (Japan East)

(c) Anthropic (Claude API)

• Purpose: translating scoring feedback and learning plans into Japanese, and generating learning plans
• Data processed: scoring feedback (commentary for each dimension), scores for each skill and dimension, the CEFR-based level, draft learning plans and recommended materials. Response text itself, audio, video, names, organizations and email addresses are not sent, although the feedback may quote part of a response
• Provider location: United States

(d) OpenAI API (OpenAI)

• Purpose: transcription of Speaking audio
• Data processed: test audio only. Names, email addresses and other information that directly identifies a Test Taker are not sent
• Provider location: United States
• Processing location: data centers of OpenAI and its sub-processors (outside Japan)
• Retention by the provider: OpenAI publicly states that, for the audio transcription API used by ELT, submitted audio and the resulting transcripts are not retained, including for abuse monitoring (except where retention is required by law)

Use for model training: the providers of (a), (c) and (d) each state that data submitted through their APIs is not used to train foundation models, and we use these services with those default settings (see Article 5.3).

3. Stripe

• Purpose: card payments, transaction processing, payment-fraud prevention and payment administration
• Provider: Stripe
• Provider/processing location: Stripe is headquartered in the United States and processes data in accordance with its own data-processing terms
• Data: payment and transaction information processed by Stripe

4. Google

• Purpose: authentication and sign-in using Google accounts, and measuring how the service website is used (Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager; analytics data is sent to Google Analytics through a server that ELT operates in the Google Cloud Japan region)
• Provider: Google
• Country: United States
• Data: authentication and profile information made available through Google OAuth, and the analytics data described in Article 11
• OAuth scopes: openid, email, profile

5. Resend

• Purpose: sending emails from the Service (password resets, scoring-completion notices, invitations to take a Test or to join the Organization Portal, and other notices), and sending inquiry confirmation emails and internal notification emails
• Provider: Resend (a U.S. company)
• Location: Japan (Tokyo, for processing outgoing email) and the United States
• Data: the recipient's name and email address, the content of the notice, and inquiry information (Article 3, paragraph 10)

6. Vercel

• Purpose: hosting the service website (https://eltpcat.com/), processing contact form submissions and detecting automated (bot) submissions
• Provider: Vercel Inc.
• Location: the United States and other countries (content is served from locations close to the visitor)
• Data: technical information generated by access to the service website (Article 3, paragraph 8) and inquiry information (Article 3, paragraph 10)

7. Browser Push Services

Push notifications are delivered through the push service run by the provider of your browser (such as Google, Apple, Mozilla or Microsoft). Which service is used depends on your browser; the text of the notification and the delivery details pass through that service. This applies only if you allow push notifications.

We select and supervise service providers in a manner appropriate to the nature and risks of the personal data involved and use contractual or other safeguards as required by applicable law.

Article 9 (Third-Party Disclosures and International Transfers)

1. Disclosure to Third Parties

We do not disclose personal data to third parties except where:

1. the individual has consented;
2. disclosure is required or permitted by law;
3. disclosure is necessary to protect a person's life, body or property and obtaining consent is difficult;
4. another exception under the APPI or other applicable law applies; or
5. the transfer constitutes outsourcing, a business succession or another arrangement that is not treated as a third-party disclosure under applicable law.

Sharing with Corporate Customers is described in Article 10.

2. Transfers to Recipients Outside Japan

ELT's approach to international transfers is set out in chapter 10 of the privacy hub. The providers that are located outside Japan, or process data outside Japan, for the Service are:

(a) OpenAI (OpenAI API)

• Country of establishment: United States
• Data transferred or processed: Speaking test audio only. Names, email addresses and other information that directly identifies a Test Taker are not sent
• Purpose: transcription of Speaking audio

(b) Anthropic (Claude API)

• Country of establishment: United States
• Data transferred or processed: scoring feedback, scores for each skill and dimension, the CEFR-based level, draft learning plans and recommended materials. Response text itself, audio, video, names, organizations and email addresses are not sent, although the feedback may quote part of a response
• Purpose: translating scoring feedback and learning plans into Japanese, and generating learning plans

(c) Resend

• Country of establishment: United States (outgoing email is processed in Japan (Tokyo))
• Data transferred or processed: the recipient's name and email address, the content of the notice, and inquiry information (Article 3, paragraph 10)
• Purpose: sending emails from the Service, and sending inquiry confirmation emails and internal notification emails

(d) Vercel

• Country of establishment: United States (content is served from locations close to the visitor)
• Data transferred or processed: technical information generated by access to the service website (Article 3, paragraph 8) and inquiry information (Article 3, paragraph 10)
• Purpose: hosting the service website, processing contact form submissions and detecting automated (bot) submissions

(e) Google (Google Analytics)

• Country of establishment: United States
• Data transferred or processed: the analytics data described in Article 11
• Purpose: measuring how the service website is used

(f) Stripe

• Country of establishment: United States
• Data transferred or processed: the payment information described in Article 3, paragraph 3
• Purpose: payment processing

Because ELT uses an Azure global deployment for Azure OpenAI Service (Microsoft), data used for scoring may be processed in Microsoft data centers outside Japan. Audio processing by Azure AI Speech (Microsoft) takes place in the Japan region (Japan East). The country in which a browser push service (Article 8, paragraph 7) is located depends on the provider of your browser.

Legal basis for the transfer: ELT treats the provision of personal data to the providers above as a provision to a recipient that has established a system necessary for continuously taking measures equivalent to those that a business handling personal information must take, as provided in Article 28, paragraph 1 of the APPI (Article 16 of the Enforcement Rules of the APPI). ELT also supervises these providers as parties to whom the handling of personal data has been entrusted (outsourcing under Article 27, paragraph 5, item 1 of the APPI).

Specifically, ELT's agreements with each provider (including their data processing terms) ensure that the provider:

• handles personal data only on ELT's instructions and within the purposes set out in this Policy;
• does not use submitted data to train foundation models or other AI models;
• implements security measures and binds personnel who handle personal data to confidentiality;
• manages its sub-processors and imposes equivalent obligations on them;
• notifies ELT of any personal data breach; and
• deletes personal data when the agreement ends or as otherwise required.

Foreign legal environment: the United States has no comprehensive federal data protection law equivalent to the APPI; personal information is regulated by sector-specific federal laws and by state laws (such as the California Consumer Privacy Act). The United States participates in the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) System. Information on the U.S. legal framework published by the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan is available at https://www.ppc.go.jp/enforcement/infoprovision/laws/offshore_report_america/ (in Japanese).

Ongoing review: ELT reviews, at least once a year, how the measures above are being implemented and whether any U.S. law or system may affect their implementation. If implementation is impeded, ELT will take necessary and appropriate action, and if continued implementation of the measures becomes difficult to ensure, ELT will stop providing personal data to the relevant provider.

Information available on request: through the contact point in Article 13, an individual may request information on the method by which the system above has been established, an outline of the measures taken by the provider, the frequency and method of ELT's reviews, the name of the foreign country, whether that country has any system that may affect the implementation of the measures and an outline of it, whether any impediment to implementation exists and an outline of it, and an outline of the measures ELT takes in response to such an impediment. ELT will provide the information without delay in accordance with applicable law.

3. Legally Required Disclosures

We may disclose information where required by a lawful request from a court, law-enforcement agency, regulator or other public authority.

Article 10 (Sharing with Corporate Customers)

1. Corporate-Sponsored Tests

Where an employer, prospective employer, school, training provider or other organization (a “Corporate Customer”) arranges a Test, ELT may share Test results and related information with that Corporate Customer in accordance with the relevant agreement, notices provided to the Test Taker and applicable law.

2. Information That May Be Shared

Information shared with a Corporate Customer may include:

• Test Taker name and other identifiers;
• date and time of the Test;
• PCAT score and CEFR-based level;
• skill-specific results;
• the Score Report;
• copy, paste and other activity records;
• the number and duration of focus-loss events;
• information relating to score validity or integrity review; and
• whether the Test was taken with the camera enabled.

The Corporate Customer's Organization Staff can view and export the information above in the Organization Portal. What each member of Organization Staff can view and export follows the role and departments the Corporate Customer assigns to them.

Each view and export of test results is recorded. On a Test Taker's request, we will tell them the name of the Corporate Customer that viewed or exported their test results and when. Because the identity of the individual staff member is information managed by the Corporate Customer, we will refer the Test Taker to that Corporate Customer for it.

3. Audio and Video

Whether raw Test audio or video is disclosed or made available to Corporate Customers is:

• Audio: not provided
• Video: not provided

What we provide to a Corporate Customer is limited to the Test results and the records of the Test session listed in paragraph 2 above.

If audio or video is provided to a Corporate Customer, the purpose, scope, access rights, retention and other relevant details will be disclosed to the Test Taker, and any procedures required by applicable law will be followed.

4. Corporate Customer's Subsequent Use

Corporate Customers may use Score Reports for purposes determined by them, including recruitment, placement and training.

A Corporate Customer's subsequent use of personal information received from ELT may be subject to the Corporate Customer's own privacy policy, internal rules and legal obligations. The same applies to files exported from the Organization Portal once Organization Staff have downloaded them.

PCAT provides information relating to English proficiency. ELT does not make final recruitment, placement, promotion, termination or other employment decisions on behalf of Corporate Customers.

Article 11 (Cookies, Analytics and Data Sent to Third Parties)

ELT's approach to cookies and external transmission (categories and how we treat each region) is set out in Cookies and external transmission in the privacy hub. The technologies used by the Service are as follows. This Article also serves as the public notice of external transmission under Japan's Telecommunications Business Act.

1. Technologies Necessary for the Service

• Test app and Organization Portal: cookies needed to keep you signed in, for authentication and security, and to save the display language. These are sent only to the respective service and are not shared with other domains
• Test app: browser storage (such as local storage) used to remember the selected microphone, keep sign-in state in sync across tabs, keep track of Test progress and confirm push notification delivery details
• Service website: browser storage used to remember that you dismissed the language suggestion, to record your analytics choice, and to keep the browsing path attached to business inquiries (Article 3, paragraph 10)
• Contact form on the service website: to detect automated (bot) submissions, Vercel's verification script is loaded only when the form is submitted

Because these are necessary to provide the Service, disabling them may prevent some features from working.

2. Analytics (Data Sent to Third Parties)

The service website (https://eltpcat.com/) sends the following data to measure how it is used.

• Analytics data is sent to Google Analytics through a server that ELT operates in the Google Cloud Japan region (gtm.eltpcat.com)
• We do not use it for advertising. We do not send data for ad delivery, remarketing or ad-performance measurement
• The test app and the Organization Portal do not use analytics

3. Consent and How to Opt Out

• Visitors from the UK, the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, and visitors whose location cannot be determined, are asked whether they consent to analytics. The analytics script is not loaded until you consent
• Visitors from other regions are measured. You can stop analytics at any time from “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page of the service website
• You can change your choice at any time from “Cookie settings”. We keep your choice for 180 days; where we ask for consent (such as for visitors from the UK and the EU), we ask again after that. You can also stop analytics by deleting or blocking cookies in your browser, or by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout)

Article 12 (Security Measures)

The security measures ELT takes (organizational, personnel, physical and technical measures, and understanding foreign environments) are set out in chapter 9 of the privacy hub. In addition, the Service applies the following measures.

• Storage location and encryption: personal data held by the Service is stored in the Japan region of Microsoft Azure and encrypted at rest. Communications between your browser and ELT, and between ELT and each service provider, are encrypted using TLS, and connections to storage are restricted to TLS 1.2 or later
• Access to audio and video: stored audio and video are configured so that they cannot be retrieved by a third party who knows the URL, and are delivered only to the Test Taker through signed URLs that expire
• Privilege management: Test Taker and administrator privileges are kept separate, and administrative functions are limited to accounts holding administrator privileges. In the Organization Portal, the Test Taker information each member of Organization Staff can access is limited to the role and departments set by the Corporate Customer, and two-step verification is mandatory for roles that can manage Test Taker information or allocate Credits
• Logging: access logs and application logs are collected and retained for 90 days
• Vulnerability management: we continuously monitor vulnerability information for dependency packages and apply the necessary updates

The person responsible for the handling of personal information is ELT's Representative Director. How we handle incidents is set out in section 9.1 of the privacy hub.

Article 13 (Access, Correction, Deletion and Restriction Requests)

Subject to the APPI and other applicable law, an individual may request notification of purpose of use, access to retained personal data, correction, addition or deletion of inaccurate data, suspension or deletion of use, suspension of third-party provision, disclosure of records of third-party provision, and other rights available under applicable law. The full list of rights is in chapter 7 of the privacy hub; for individuals in the UK and the EU, see also Article 17.

1. Contact

Email privacy@elteduc.com, stating that your message is a request concerning personal information and giving the email address registered to your PCAT account. How we verify identity, requests by representatives, fees, and how and when we respond are set out in chapter 8 of the privacy hub.

2. Identity Verification for the Service

As a general rule, we verify identity by contacting the email address registered to the account. If identity cannot be confirmed in that way, we may ask for additional supporting materials.

3. Account Deletion

Deleting a PCAT account is not necessarily the same as exercising a statutory right to deletion or restriction of processing.

Even after an account is deleted, some information may be retained where necessary to comply with legal obligations, maintain payment records, address disputes or integrity investigations, or complete backup-retention cycles (Article 7).

4. Test Takers Whose Test Was Arranged by an Organization

For questions about how a Corporate Customer uses the results we provided to it, please contact that Corporate Customer. We will tell you which Corporate Customer viewed or exported your results and when (Article 10, paragraph 2).

Article 14 (Children and Minors)

Where a minor uses the Service, consent of a parent or legal representative or another procedure may be required depending on the Test Taker's age, the manner in which the Service is provided and applicable law.

The Service is intended for individuals aged 16 or over. Individuals under 16 may not use the Service. An individual aged 16 or 17 must obtain the consent of their legal representative before using the Service. We do not verify age at registration, so obtaining that consent is the responsibility of the User.

Where a Corporate Customer, school or other third party arranges a Test for a minor, that Corporate Customer or other party is responsible for providing the necessary explanation to, and obtaining consent from, the Test Taker and their legal representative.

Article 15 (Personal Data Breaches)

If a leakage, loss, destruction or other personal-data incident occurs, ELT will investigate the incident and take appropriate measures to contain harm and prevent recurrence. Reports to the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan or other supervisory authorities, and notifications to affected individuals, are made in accordance with applicable law as set out in section 9.1 of the privacy hub.

Article 16 (Changes to This Policy)

1. We may amend this Policy in response to changes in law, changes to the Service, changes in third-party services or other circumstances.
2. If a change is material, we will provide notice of the revised Policy and its effective date through the Service, an ELT website, email or another appropriate method.
3. Where applicable law requires consent to a particular change, we will obtain the required consent.
4. Unless otherwise stated, the revised Policy will take effect on the effective date specified by ELT.
5. The version and last-updated date of this Policy are also listed in the revision history of the privacy hub.

Article 17 (Individuals in the UK and the EU)

This Article applies to individuals located in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area (EEA) where the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) or the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) applies, and to the extent that it applies. Matters not covered in this Article are governed by the other Articles of this Policy and the privacy hub (in particular chapter 4, Applicable law).

1. Controller

ELT is the controller of personal data processed in the Service. Where an organization arranges your Test, that Corporate Customer is a separate controller to the extent it uses the results we provide for its own purposes. Under Article 27 of the UK GDPR, ELT has appointed its UK company, ELT School of English Limited, as its representative in the UK (chapter 6 of the privacy hub).

2. Legal Bases

You may object at any time to processing based on legitimate interests.

3. Transfers from the UK and the EEA to Japan

Personal data transferred from the UK or the EEA to ELT (in Japan) is transferred on the basis of the adequacy decisions for Japan. ELT applies the Supplementary Rules of the Personal Information Protection Commission to personal data received on the basis of an adequacy decision. Transfers to service providers in the United States and other countries (Article 9, paragraph 2) are protected, as described in chapter 10 of the privacy hub, by standard contractual clauses (SCCs), the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or Addendum, or an adequacy decision for the destination country (including participation in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension). You may request a copy of the safeguards through the contact point in Article 13.

4. Your Rights

You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection, and the right to withdraw consent. The rights are described in chapter 7 of the privacy hub, and how to exercise them and our response times (in principle within one month of receipt) in chapter 8. Please send requests to privacy@elteduc.com.

5. Automated Processing

Scoring is carried out automatically using AI, but ELT does not make decisions that produce legal effects concerning you, or similarly significantly affect you, based solely on the scoring result. Where a Corporate Customer uses scores for recruitment, placement or similar purposes, that decision is made by the Corporate Customer (Article 10, paragraph 4). If you have doubts about a result, you may ask for it to be re-checked through the procedure set out in the Terms of Use.

6. Complaints to a Supervisory Authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) or the supervisory authority in your EEA country. Contact details are listed in chapter 12 of the privacy hub.