The government plans to consolidate three current laws for protecting personal information into one to set common rules across the nation, as systems currently differ in line with local ordinances, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Bills revising the laws on protecting personal information will be submitted to the ordinary Diet session next year.
Unifying the definitions of personal information among the public and private sectors is expected to advance the use of data in the medical field and the providing of personal information in times of disaster which have been hindered by the current legal system's sectionalism.
The proposed amendment will unite the Law on the Protection of Personal Information, which applies to the private sector, with the Law on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs and the Law on Access to Information Held by Independent Administrative Agencies, which both apply to the government and government-related organizations.
The current jurisdiction is divided between the Personal Information Protection Commission, which functions under the Cabinet Office, and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The proposed revision will consolidate authority into the commission.
For systems that differ between local governments, the proposed amendment will establish common rules nationwide. If a local ordinance does not conform to the rules, the municipality will be called on to amend it. But it will also create new operational guidelines that allow municipalities to take independent protection measures within the limits of the law. One foreseen example could be the creation of a partnership system for the LGBT which is not covered by national regulations.
Laws and regulations on protecting personal information differ between the national government and 47 prefectures, 1,718 municipalities, special wards and other entities, which has long been a pending issue.
In fact, the differences in the handling of personal information in times of disasters have become a barrier, leading to such problems as preventing victim information from being shared with private support groups or causing local governments to differ in their response to the release of the names of missing persons.
There have also been harmful effects in the use of a system for centralized management of information on people infected with the novel coronavirus. "A unified definition of personal information will help fix these problems," a government official said.
One of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's signature policies is his plan to create a digital agency to promote the digitization of the government. One aim is, through a comprehensive review, to organize the legal systems on protecting personal information that vary between the national and local governments, and to make it easier to standardize the system.
A sweeping review of the personal information protection system is also meant to bring Japan in line with international standards. In 2018, the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation, which regulates the flow of personal information in the EU.
Through the proposed amendment, the government hopes to conform with the GDPR by taking such measures as making the Personal Data Protection Commission a centralized supervisory body.
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