New privacy bill in Japan

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: IKEDA Nobuo <ikeda-nobuo () rieti go jp>
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:26:54 +0900
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ikeda-nobuo () rieti go jp
Subject: IP: New privacy bill in Japan

Japanese govt is going to propose a bill that regulates the distribution of
personal data. Newspapers and TVs have argued against it that "freedom
of the news media" should be protected as its exception.

As a result, news media will be freed from regulation, but the Internet
will be regulated. In fact, BBS and search engines will be under attack
if they quote your name without your agreement. I call this bill as
"incumbent media protection bill".

http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2003012500211.html

> Media curbs absent in new privacy bill
> The Asahi Shimbun
>
> A privacy-protection bill is to be ready for Diet consideration in
> mid-February, this time minus the contentious, media-restricting ``basic
> principles'' that sank the earlier bill on its maiden voyage.
>
> The previous privacy initiative died in the last Diet session in
> December and was rebuilt from the ground up.
>
> The new version drops the troublesome bits and specifically says media
> organizations and people who write are not to be bound by the
> restrictions the bill spells out.
>
> Government and ruling political parties plan to put the recast
> legislation before the Diet during the current session ending in June.
>
> The earlier privacy bill contained ``basic principles'' that would have
> required anyone handling personal data to comply. It restricted
> information access by purpose and required that information be
> ``properly'' obtained and its intended use be clear to all.
>
> The new version of the bill scales back the principles and calls them
> ``basic ideas'' for compliance, specifying that personal information
> ``should be treated with care, given the principle of respect for the
> individual,'' and be ``handled properly.''
>
> The new bill specifically exempts journalists who work for media
> organizations and unaffiliated free-lancers, as well as media
> organizations themselves and academic, religious and political
> institutions, from ministerial jurisdiction.
>
> Companion legislation promoted by the government to safeguard personal
> data will provide for punishment of government officials and civil
> service employees-past and present-who steal or leak such information
> for ``improper purposes'' or for their personal gain.
>
> The coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and Hoshu
> Shinto (New Conservative Party) plans to start herding important
> legislation into the hopper after the fiscal 2003 budget clears the
> Lower House. The coalition intends to form special committees to deal
> with key bills, including the privacy-protection bill, for exclusive
> deliberation by both Diet chambers.
>
> The opposition, however, objects even to the idea of creating special
> committees to deal with key legislation.
>
> Yukio Edano, chairman of the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) Policy
> Research Committee, branded the changes that exclude media organizations
> from terms of the privacy bill as ``nonsense.''
>
> ``Public authorities should never be allowed to decide what is a media
> organization and what isn't,'' Edano said.
>
> But the coalition is seen to be prepared to force the bill to passage if
> opposition parties do not agree to meet to discuss it.

--
Ikeda, Nobuo
Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)
http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/


------ End of Forwarded Message

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