Notes from the IAPP Asia Managing Director, 26 May 2017

おはようございます ohayou gozaimasu  Good morning!

I have just returned from spending a week in Japan, spreading the word about the IAPP. After 24 meetings, two press interviews and presenting at two seminars, the word is definitely out! We signed up our first corporate member in Japan, IIJ (Internet Initiative Japan), a cloud provider, and others are likely to follow. There was keen interest in the IAPP, its community and its certification, particularly among global companies who are trading with the EU. These organizations are eager to understand the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on their businesses and are very interested in how an IAPP certification can help them choose the right DPO and have them ready for GDPR enforcement next year. In addition to the risk of large-scale fines under GDPR, I got a very real sense of the corporate social responsibility ethos in Japan and how these companies wish to prepare to protect their customers in the digital economy.

Japan has always been a leader in technology and will need to ensure that data protection can be incorporated with its goal to be the world leader in robotics and artificial intelligence. Policymakers locally and globally need to work together to craft appropriate laws and regulations to balance the beneficial applications and uses of such technology against its drawbacks and its impact on society.

Japan has well-established privacy laws, and in 2016, personal data protection was centralized under a new data protection agency, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PPC). I was welcomed by the PPC and three other government agencies. While they understand the GDPR requirements and are grappling with their own local regulations, an amendment of which comes into force next week, Japan is seeking global validation through adequacy with the GDPR and APEC CBPRs. Some government officials have attended IAPP conferences, and I am delighted that we have two speakers from Japan at our Asia Privacy Forum in July. Japan is firmly part of our global community, and I hope to see more content we can publish coming from Japan.

In local news here in Japan, it is apparent that awareness of their right to privacy protection is growing among citizens. An example this week was the protest about planned legislation targeting conspiracies to commit terrorism and other crimes that could potentially allow police to “trample civil liberties.” The authorities wish to step up security ahead of the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo.

じゃあまた Until next time!