Towards a Regulation for Personal Data Protection rather than for Personal Information Protection (6)

―― Consideration of Legislative Reform Based on the Purpose of the Regulation

Abstract

In the first half of this series of papers, we have analyzed past legislative history to clarify the interpretation of the phrases “any information related to an individual”, “can be easily matched with other information” and “can identify an individual” in the Japanese Personal Information Protection Law, and to presume the proper interpretation of the definition of “personal information”.
 In the latter part of the series, we will clarify what the purpose of his law is and what is envisioned in the “rights and interests of individuals” by examining the literature of the past 50 years in Western countries, prove that the presumed interpretation is reasonable, and discuss how the Japanese Personal Information Protection Law should be revised.