Jichitai Shokuin no tame no 2021nen Kaisei Kojin-Joho Hogo-Ho Kaisetsu (The 2021 Amendment to the Act on the Protection of Personal Information: An Explanation for Local Government Employees)

Japan’s laws on the protection of personal information (PPI) underwent a great transformation in 2021 (Reiwa 3). In other words, earlier, there was the “Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs” and the “Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Incorporated Administrative Agencies, etc.” in addition to the “Act on the Protection of Personal Information,” a general law for the private sector. With the 2021 amendment, the first two were repealed, revised, and incorporated into the Act on the Protection of Personal Information. However, that is not to say that PPI in the private and public sectors will be handled in the same omnibus way. Since each sector is regulated differently, PPI in the private and public sectors is stipulated in chapters 4 and 5 respectively of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information.
 
Decentralization was one of the distinctive features of PPI legislation in Japan. For example, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs applied only to the personal information held by national government agencies, not to that held by local government agencies or local independent administrative agencies. The latter was covered by the PPI ordinances of each individual local government. However, the 2021 amendment has made Chapter 5 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information applicable in these cases as well. Nevertheless, local governments are allowed to enact PPI ordinances that suit their local circumstances in some areas.
 
This book explains the newly amended Act on the Protection of Personal Information. The introduction discusses the significance of the centralization of PPI legislation, Chapter 1 outlines the developments in Japan’s PPI legislation and gives an overall explanation of the 2021 amendment, and Chapter 2 focuses on the effects that the amended Act will have on the actual affairs of local governments.
 
While this book was principally written to serve as a reference for local government employees to understand the amended Act and take the necessary steps to comply with it, it is in simple and clear language, making it useful to a wide range of people, including researchers, students, national public officials, corporate legal staff, and lawyers.
 

(Written by UGA Katsuya, Professor Emeritus, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2022)