Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-08-18

This document is a reference translation. If the two versions differ, the Japanese version prevails.

This policy sets out how information about you is handled in PochiSta (the “Service”).

1. What is never transmitted (the most important point)

All image processing in the Service happens entirely inside your browser. The following are never sent to or stored on the operator's servers.

  • Images you upload (character art, illustrations, photos and so on)
  • Text you type
  • The strokes you draw by hand
  • The result of AI background removal
  • The emotes you create and export

The Service has no server that receives images in the first place — it is delivered as static files.

2. What is stored on your device

For convenience, the following is stored only on your own device (browser localStorage). The operator cannot read any of it.

  • The emote text you typed (so you can continue where you left off next time)
  • The strokes you drew by hand (the coordinates of each stroke, so you can carry on from your drawing next time)
  • Editor settings (text color, outline widths, selected font, pen type and similar choices)
  • Your layer setup (kind, stacking order, visibility, position and size)
  • Your app appearance choice (light / dark / match device)
  • Whether you have agreed to the Terms of Use

Images you import are not stored. They are too large, so you need to import them again after reloading the page (your previous placement is restored instead).

You can clear all of it at any time by deleting site data in your browser settings.

Note: on a shared device, the text you typed and the strokes you drew may be visible to the next person. Delete the site data if that matters to you.

3. Outbound connections that do occur

Displaying and running the Service may involve connections to the following external services. In no case are your images or text transmitted, but by the nature of a network request your IP address and browser information reach the destination.

  • Google Fonts: fetching the Japanese web fonts
  • Cloudflare Web Analytics: loading the analytics script and recording page views (see the next section)
  • Google AdSense: fetching and displaying ads, and measuring them (see section 5). This begins once advertising starts being served.

AI background removal involves no external communication. The cutout model is served by the Service itself, and all processing happens inside your browser.

4. Analytics

To improve the Service, cookie-free analytics (Cloudflare Web Analytics) may be used.

  • Analytics uses no cookies. No personally identifying information and no cross-site tracking data are collected (for cookies used by advertising, see the next section)
  • What is collected is limited to aggregate information such as which pages were viewed, referrer, browser and device type, country and page speed
  • The content of your emotes and the text you type are never collected

5. Advertising

The Service uses Google AdSense, a third-party advertising service.

Note: as of the last update to this policy, advertising has not started being served. The use of cookies and the collection of consent described in this section all apply from the point serving begins. They are stated in advance so that the handling is clear before it does.

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies and web beacons (tracking pixels) to serve ads based on your prior visits to the Service or other websites, and to measure how those ads perform
  • For how Google uses cookies in advertising, see Google's "Advertising – Policies & Terms"
  • You can opt out of personalised advertising in Google Ads Settings. To opt out of third-party vendor cookies collectively, use aboutads.info
  • You can also disable cookies in your browser settings
  • Your images, the text you type and the emotes you create are never sent to advertising vendors. As stated in section 1, they are not sent to the operator's servers either

For access from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, a Google-certified consent management platform (Google's own CMP) will present a consent message from the point serving begins. It offers "Consent", "Do not consent" and "Manage options", and advertising and cookies are handled according to your choice.

  • A choice you have made can be reset by clearing this site's data (cookies) in your browser, letting you choose again on your next visit
  • If you choose "Do not consent", non-personalised ads may still be shown. Cookies and similar technologies are still used in that case for frequency capping and fraud prevention, but not to serve ads based on your interests

6. Contact

For questions about this policy, please use the contact listed on the About / Operator page.

7. Changes to this policy

This policy may be changed as necessary. When a significant change is made, the last updated date on this page will be revised to indicate it.