KUAM is operated from Busan, Republic of Korea. This page explains what personal information we collect, why, and how to have it removed. It is written to be read, not to be skimmed past.
The short version. If you only browse the site, we hold nothing about you beyond standard server logs. If you complete the skin check without saving a profile, your answers are worked out inside your browser and never sent to us; the only thing we record is an anonymous count of completions by country. If you save a profile, we store your answers — including three health-related ones — against a random identifier for 24 months, and your email address (and first name, if you give one) separately, in a different table, so that a leak of one does not identify the other. We do not sell anything to anyone. Email ceo@kuam-ai.com and we will delete whatever you ask us to.
Who is responsible
KUAM, Busan, Republic of Korea. Questions, deletion requests, and anything else about this policy: ceo@kuam-ai.com. We answer within 30 days and usually much sooner.
What we collect
| Information | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Standard server logs — IP address, browser type, page requested | Automatically, on every visit | Kept by our hosting provider to keep the site running and to block abuse |
| Skin check answers — country, skin tone, skin type, concerns, marks, sensitivity, environment, current routine, age band, sun habits | Only if you save a profile at the end of the check | To generate your results, and in aggregate to decide which products we research and stock |
| Health-related answers — how your skin reacts, past allergic reactions, pregnancy or breastfeeding status | Only if you save a profile, with the explicit consent you give in the profile form | To exclude ingredients that would be unsafe for you. Retinoids are excluded in pregnancy and breastfeeding; declared allergens are removed from your results |
| Optional lifestyle answers — sleep, stress, environment | Only if you open the optional section of the profile form and answer them | Research, and to refine future picks for your profile. They do not change today's results |
| Email address, and optionally your first name — profile | Only if you save a profile | To send you your full report and product shortlist, and to keep your picks up to date over time |
| Email address — launch notice | Only if you additionally tick the marketing box in the profile form, which is separate and optional | To tell you once, when KUAM opens. You can unsubscribe at any time, and declining does not affect your report |
| Anonymous completion counter — your country and the time you reached the results page. No identifier of any kind | Every time a skin check reaches the results page, whether or not you save a profile | To see how many people in each country complete the check, which decides where we launch first |
Your first name is optional and is used only to address you. We do not ask for a photograph, and we do not process facial images or any other biometric data. There is no account and no password.
How the two are kept apart
Your skin check answers and your contact details (email, and name if given) are stored in two separate tables. They are linked only by a random token, and nothing in the public part of our system can follow that link. This is deliberate: if one table were ever exposed, it would not tell anyone whose skin the answers describe.
Answers are written to our database through a public key that can only add records. It cannot read them back. Reading is possible only from our own administrative console.
When we ask for consent, and what it covers
The check itself runs in your browser and asks for no consent, because nothing leaves your device. We ask only when you choose to save a profile — the moment your answers are first sent to us. The profile form asks for one explicit consent that names the health-related answers — how your skin reacts, past allergic reactions, pregnancy or breastfeeding status — so that storing them is a deliberate decision rather than a bundled one, and a separate tick for the Privacy Policy.
The health-related answers are not optional within a profile. Allergy and pregnancy answers are what drive the safety filters; a profile that left them out could not keep your picks safe as they update. If you would rather not store them, you can still run the check as often as you like without saving.
You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing us, and we will delete your record.
Cookies and browser storage
This site sets no cookies and runs no advertising trackers. We do not use analytics that build a profile of you across other websites.
Fonts and page assets are served from our own site; no third-party font, script or analytics service is loaded. The skin check itself makes no external request until you choose to save a profile.
If you save a profile, the page writes a copy of what you saved to your own browser's local storage under the key kuam_last, and, if the first attempt to reach our database fails, a retry copy under kuam_pending until it succeeds. Neither is written if you do not save. We cannot read them, and clearing your browser data removes them.
Who else sees your information
We use a small number of service providers to run the site. They process data on our instructions and for no other purpose:
- Netlify — hosting and content delivery. Handles server logs.
- Supabase — database. Skin check answers and email addresses are stored on servers in the Seoul region, Republic of Korea.
- Email provider — delivers messages sent to and from our address.
- Google (Apps Script) — when you click a shop link, we log the product, your country and the merchant to count clicks. No identifier, no skin answers.
We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We would disclose information if legally required to, and we would tell you unless prohibited from doing so.
Affiliate links
Some product links on this site earn KUAM a commission if you buy through them. The retailer, not KUAM, learns that a visitor arrived from our site, and their own privacy policy governs what happens after you leave. Which products appear is decided by ingredient data and published evidence, not by commission rates. Where two products score almost the same for your concern, a commission link can give one a small edge in the order they are listed; it never lets a weaker match outrank a clearly better one, and it never changes what you pay.
Where your data is held, and for how long
Skin check answers and email addresses are stored in the Republic of Korea. Server logs are held by our hosting provider, which may operate outside your country; where required, those transfers rely on standard contractual clauses or an equivalent safeguard. Transfers from the European Economic Area to Korea are covered by the European Commission's adequacy decision for the Republic of Korea.
- Skin check answers, including the health-related ones (saved profiles only) — kept for 24 months from the date you complete the check, then deleted. Twenty-four months is what it takes to see a pattern across two full cycles of seasons and product releases; beyond that the record stops earning its keep.
- Email addresses — kept until you ask us to delete them or unsubscribe.
- Server logs — retained by our hosting provider on their standard schedule, typically under 30 days.
Aggregated, anonymised patterns — how many people in a given country report a given concern, for example — may be kept and published beyond 24 months. These contain no individual records and cannot be traced back to a person. The anonymous completion counter holds only a country and a timestamp and is kept for as long as it is useful.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to show you what we hold, correct it, delete it, or stop using it. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the GDPR gives you these rights explicitly, along with the right to data portability and the right to complain to your national supervisory authority. If you are in Korea, the Personal Information Protection Act gives you equivalent rights and you may complain to the Personal Information Protection Commission.
We do not require a formal process. Email ceo@kuam-ai.com and say what you want done. Because records are not stored against your name, please write from the email address you gave us so we can find the right record. If you completed the skin check without saving a profile, we hold nothing about you to delete.
Our legal bases. For skin check answers and for holding an email address, your consent. For the health-related answers, your explicit consent, which is the condition set out in Article 9(2)(a) of the GDPR for special category data and in Article 23 of the Korean Personal Information Protection Act for sensitive information. For server logs, our legitimate interest in keeping the site available and secure. Consent can be withdrawn at any time; withdrawing it does not affect processing that already took place.
We do not make automated decisions that produce legal effects. The skin check filters and ranks cosmetic products; it does not decide anything about you.
Children
This site is not intended for anyone under 16, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has completed the skin check or submitted an email address, tell us and we will remove the record.
Not medical advice
KUAM provides cosmetic product information. It is not a medical service, it does not diagnose skin conditions, and nothing here substitutes for a dermatologist. If something on your skin is painful, spreading, or not settling, see a doctor.
Changes to this policy
When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Material changes — new categories of data, new recipients, a new purpose — will be announced on the site before they take effect, and anyone who has given us an email address will be emailed.