Data Protection in the Internet: Japanese
National Report
Taro Komukai
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose of This Report
This report provides an overview of the data protection system in Japan, as a national
report for the “Data Protection in the Internet” session held at the Congress of the
International Academy of Comparative Law in Fukuoka in 2018.
1
The privacy and data protection system in Japan has been established by reference to systems of other countries, including the European Union (EU) and the
United States. It has become, however, a thing of its own that reflects national
circumstances and culture. Recently, there have been some rapid changes such as
reform of the basic law on data protection, establishment of an independent supervisory authority, and agreement with the EU for mutual data circulation.
This national report’s purpose is to show the current situation and characteristics
of privacy and data protection in Japan. To contribute effective comparative analysis, it was created according to items presented by the general reporter.
T. Komukai (*)
Nihon University, College of Risk Management, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: komukai.taro@nihon-u.ac.jp
1 This report is also going to be published in “Japanese Reports for the 20th International Congress
of Comparative Law (ICCLP Publications No.14)”, International Center for Comparative Law and
Politics, Graduate School of Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo, May 2019.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. Moura Vicente, S. de Vasconcelos Casimiro (eds.), Data Protection in the
Internet, Ius Comparatum – Global Studies in Comparative Law 38,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28049-9_10
253
National Report
Taro Komukai
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose of This Report
This report provides an overview of the data protection system in Japan, as a national
report for the “Data Protection in the Internet” session held at the Congress of the
International Academy of Comparative Law in Fukuoka in 2018.
1
The privacy and data protection system in Japan has been established by reference to systems of other countries, including the European Union (EU) and the
United States. It has become, however, a thing of its own that reflects national
circumstances and culture. Recently, there have been some rapid changes such as
reform of the basic law on data protection, establishment of an independent supervisory authority, and agreement with the EU for mutual data circulation.
This national report’s purpose is to show the current situation and characteristics
of privacy and data protection in Japan. To contribute effective comparative analysis, it was created according to items presented by the general reporter.
T. Komukai (*)
Nihon University, College of Risk Management, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: komukai.taro@nihon-u.ac.jp
1 This report is also going to be published in “Japanese Reports for the 20th International Congress
of Comparative Law (ICCLP Publications No.14)”, International Center for Comparative Law and
Politics, Graduate School of Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo, May 2019.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. Moura Vicente, S. de Vasconcelos Casimiro (eds.), Data Protection in the
Internet, Ius Comparatum – Global Studies in Comparative Law 38,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28049-9_10
253