Terms of Use
In short: be kind, only share what’s true and what you photographed yourself, don’t show recognisable people – and follow the stations’ rules.
1. Provider and scope
The Sumi app and its related services are provided by Tobias Heß (address in the imprint), “we” below. These terms apply to your use of the app and your account.
For the app obtained from the App Store, Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies. Apple is not a party to these terms and is not responsible for Sumi, its content or support.
2. What Sumi offers
Sumi helps you find eki stamps (station stamps) in Japan and keep your collection in a digital stamp book. Users can report and confirm stamps and share photos of where a stamp is located.
Sumi is currently free. To fund its operation, we may in future show advertising in Sumi and offer paid extras or voluntary support. You only pay if you explicitly order something (e.g. via the App Store); we will tell you the applicable terms beforehand.
We keep developing Sumi and may change, add or discontinue features as far as this is reasonable for you. There is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability.
3. Your account
- You need an account to collect and contribute. Please use an email address that belongs to you and keep your password secret.
- An account is for one person. You may create one from the age of 16; younger users need their parents’ permission.
- Your display name must not be offensive or impersonate other people, companies or brands.
4. Community guidelines
Sumi works because the information is accurate and everyone feels welcome. That’s why:
- Accurate information: Only report and confirm stamps to the best of your knowledge. Deliberately false reports, fake confirmations, multiple accounts and automated access (bots) are not allowed.
- Your own photos: Only upload photos you took yourself. They should show the place where the stamp is located. No recognisable people, licence plates, tickets or IDs with personal data.
- Rights of others: Stamp designs belong to the railway companies. Don’t make the design the focus of public contributions, and don’t infringe copyright, trademarks or personality rights.
- No inappropriate content: Nothing illegal, offensive, discriminatory, violent or sexual, and no self-promotion or spam in your contributions. Don’t harass anyone.
- On site: Follow the stations’ house and transport rules. Some stamps are inside the ticket gates – you need a valid ticket there. Treat the stamps with care, stamp only on your own paper and don’t take anything with you.
5. Rights to your contributions
Your photos and texts remain yours. So that we can show them in Sumi, you grant us a simple (non-exclusive), free, worldwide right to store them, adapt them technically (e.g. resize) and make them publicly available in the app and on our website for as long as they are published in Sumi. You confirm that you hold the necessary rights.
Facts about stamps (that a station has a stamp, where it is, whether it still exists) become part of the shared stamp database. If you delete your account, stamps that have already been confirmed remain without any link to you; we delete your photos.
6. Review, reports and suspension
- We review photos before publication, usually within 24 hours.
- Using “Report” in the app or by emailing hello@sumistamps.app, you can notify us of content that violates these terms or the law. We review reports promptly, usually within 24 hours. You can block other users.
- In case of violations we may reject, hide or remove content and suspend accounts temporarily or permanently. We will tell you about such decisions and our reasons. If you disagree, write to us – we will review the case again.
- Point of contact for authorities and users under the Digital Services Act: hello@sumistamps.app (German or English).
7. Stamp information without guarantee
Stamps move, get replaced, are only accessible at certain times or disappear. Our information comes from official railway company lists and from the community. We strive for accuracy but cannot guarantee it.
Sumi is independent and not affiliated with JR, other railway companies or Apple. Names and trademarks mentioned belong to their owners.
8. Liability
We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, and under the German Product Liability Act. For slight negligence we are only liable if we breach an essential obligation that makes the use of Sumi possible in the first place and on which you may rely – and then limited to the foreseeable, typical damage. Otherwise liability is excluded.
9. Term and termination
The agreement runs for an indefinite period. You can end it at any time by deleting your account in the app (Settings → Delete account). We may terminate it with four weeks’ notice, or without notice in case of serious or repeated violations.
10. Changes to these terms
If we change these terms, we will let you know in the app in good time. Material changes only apply to you once you accept them.
11. Final provisions
German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer habitually resident in another country, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer law of that country.
We are neither obliged nor willing to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
Should any provision be invalid, the remaining provisions remain effective.