On Sept 1, 2022, the first of the "Digital and Rule of Law" series of forums at Peking University Law School was delivered by Yuasa Harumichi, professor of the Department of Global Governance Studies at Meiji University, who gave a two-hour online lecture on "The transformation of personal information protection legislation in Japan". The lecture was hosted by Li Huxing, postdoctoral researcher of Peking University Law School and Doctor of Law of the University of Tokyo. It attracted more than 200 teachers and students from inside and outside the university to participate and received a warm response.

This paper presents the key points of the lecture in the form of written records.

Yuasa Harumichi:

Japan's personal information protection legislation has three characteristics: first, the right to privacy in the Constitution and the Personal Information Protection Act coexist, the latter aims to regulate enterprises and other entities, and the two are independent of each other. Second, the legal system of personal information protection reflects the sectarianism tradition of Japanese government organizations. Third, for business operators, legal sanctions are relatively lenient, and they are mainly subject to the influence of public opinion and other forms of reputation.

Japan's Personal Information Protection Law has been revised three times since it was passed in 2003, in 2017, 2020 and 2021; The Personal Information Protection Committee, the core body of the system, was reorganized from the Special Personal Information Protection Committee in 2016.

In Japan, the constitutional right to privacy coexists with the Personal Information Protection Act. Privacy and personal information are two independent concepts that intersect with each other. They overlap but are not the same. In 1964, the Tokyo District Court's "After the Banquet" case first established the right to privacy, defined as "the legal guarantee or right to prevent the unnecessary disclosure of private life"; Subsequently, Japanese courts have expanded the scope of privacy and personal information in precedents. Unlike the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, personal information is not a fundamental human right under Japanese law.

The legal system of personal information protection reflects the Japanese government's sectionalism tradition. Privacy laws at the municipal level have been around since the 1980s; In 1988, a law was passed applicable to the computer processing of personal information by administrative organs throughout the country. Each specific functional department separately develops norms applicable to the field. Legislatures and judicial organs have also formulated their own personal information protection norms.

As for the protection of the deceased's personal information, which is a topic worthy of attention in the future, the traditional theory holds that privacy is rooted in the personality of a natural person, and the deceased himself cannot enjoy the right of privacy. But in the future, the privacy and personal information of the deceased may also be protected by virtue of their property value.

About the Speaker:

Professor Yuasa Harumichi has been a Professor in the Department of Global Governance Studies at Meiji University since 2021. Its research focuses on privacy protection and personal information protection, network security, Internet election activities and electronic voting, etc. In addition, he has served in many organizations, including Research Fellow of the Information and Communication Policy Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, member of the Legislative Committee of the Ministry of Justice, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Promotion of Telecommunication Personal Information Protection of the Japan Data Communication Association.

Translated by: Tian Zhoujian

Edited by:Chen Hong