Japan relaxes privacy laws to make itself the ‘easiest country to develop AI’
(2026/04/08)
- Reference: 1775623701
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/08/japan_privacy_law_changes_ai/
- Source link:
Japan’s Minister for Digital Transformation Hisashi Matsumoto has declared the nation will become the easiest place in the world to develop AI apps, thanks to legal changes that mean organizations won’t need to secure consent to use some personal information.
To make that happen, Japan’s government on Tuesday approved amendments to the nation’s Personal Information Protection Act that remove the requirement for opt-in consent before sharing personal data.
The changes only apply to data that poses little risk of infringing individuals’ rights, and when developers use it to compile statistics for research purposes. Even health-related data comes under the amendments, if it can improve public health.
[1]
Facial scans are also fair game. The amendments require those who acquire facial images to explain how they handle the data, but offering a chance to opt out won’t be mandatory.
[2]
[3]
Collecting the image of a child aged under 16 will require parental approval, a “best interests” test will apply when considering use of data that describes minors.
Organizations that collect the wrong data, or maliciously use it to harm citizens, will face fines equivalent to the profit they make from improperly using data. Japan’s government will also implement fines for obtaining data through fraudulent means.
[4]
But in the event of a data leak, organizations will not need to notify impacted citizens if there is little risk of harm to individuals.
[5]Yahoo ! Japan’s owner consolidating 164 OpenStack clusters into one
[6]Japanese shipper MOL wants a floating datacenter, and Hitachi just climbed aboard
[7]Japan to allow ‘proactive cyber-defense’ from October 1st
[8]Japan doubles down on Trump's Genesis AI supercomputing effort
Minister Matsumoto said Japan needs this legislative tweak because current laws represent “a very big obstacle to the development, and utilization of AI in Japan.”
“We must prevent this from happening,” he said, because without access to data Japan will struggle to develop and deploy useful AI.
Despite its reputation as a hotbed of technology, Japan has been markedly slow to digitize government services. These amendments are aimed, in part, at making sure Japan is not slow to catch the AI wave. ®
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/07/ly_corp_openstack_consolidation/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/01/japanese_shipping_biz_hitachi_floating_datacenters/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/18/japan_proactive_cyber_defense_enabled/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/27/japan_ai_genesis/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
To make that happen, Japan’s government on Tuesday approved amendments to the nation’s Personal Information Protection Act that remove the requirement for opt-in consent before sharing personal data.
The changes only apply to data that poses little risk of infringing individuals’ rights, and when developers use it to compile statistics for research purposes. Even health-related data comes under the amendments, if it can improve public health.
[1]
Facial scans are also fair game. The amendments require those who acquire facial images to explain how they handle the data, but offering a chance to opt out won’t be mandatory.
[2]
[3]
Collecting the image of a child aged under 16 will require parental approval, a “best interests” test will apply when considering use of data that describes minors.
Organizations that collect the wrong data, or maliciously use it to harm citizens, will face fines equivalent to the profit they make from improperly using data. Japan’s government will also implement fines for obtaining data through fraudulent means.
[4]
But in the event of a data leak, organizations will not need to notify impacted citizens if there is little risk of harm to individuals.
[5]Yahoo ! Japan’s owner consolidating 164 OpenStack clusters into one
[6]Japanese shipper MOL wants a floating datacenter, and Hitachi just climbed aboard
[7]Japan to allow ‘proactive cyber-defense’ from October 1st
[8]Japan doubles down on Trump's Genesis AI supercomputing effort
Minister Matsumoto said Japan needs this legislative tweak because current laws represent “a very big obstacle to the development, and utilization of AI in Japan.”
“We must prevent this from happening,” he said, because without access to data Japan will struggle to develop and deploy useful AI.
Despite its reputation as a hotbed of technology, Japan has been markedly slow to digitize government services. These amendments are aimed, in part, at making sure Japan is not slow to catch the AI wave. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/07/ly_corp_openstack_consolidation/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/01/japanese_shipping_biz_hitachi_floating_datacenters/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/18/japan_proactive_cyber_defense_enabled/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/27/japan_ai_genesis/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Central Scrutinizer
Colour me cynical too
That sounds like a privacy and security nightmare. No opt out of anything much? I'm sure the pinky swear about doing nothing bad with it will never be broken.... noooo .
Dan 55
...because current laws represent “a very big obstacle to the development, and utilization of AI in Japan.”
Perhaps there's a reason why these laws were made in the first place...
Catch the AI wave
that one in the corner
From the country that brought you Hokusai and Fukushima, you'd think they'd be more careful of the damage waves can do; deliberately seeking them out...
Leave that to the California techbros who imagine they are surferdudes; and remember that everything going wrong in "Return To The Forbidden Planet" started with "Wipeout".
...because current laws represent “a very big obstacle to the development, and utilization of AI in Japan.”
“We must prevent this from happening,” he said, because without access to data Japan will struggle to develop and deploy useful AI.
Ah yes, it is an obstacle for the "government" to use all those private bits to analyse its citizens critics and ensure a new layer of control that can be exerted at any time when the "government" thinks it should exert some more pressure on any (potential) opposition and all those (illegal) thoughts people are having all the time.
Maybe it is just the cynic in me, but, unfortunately, reality catches up rather quickly to my cynicism.