4 days ago
Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says
The head of Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission has emphasized the need to introduce a monetary penalty system to help develop the country's artificial intelligence industry.
In a recent interview, Satoru Tezuka, who assumed the role of commission chair in May, said that the country "should introduce" a system that includes fines for profits gained through the misuse of personal information, as part of a triennial revision of the personal information protection law.
The law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
"The word 'fine' makes businesses cautious, but our planned system is intended to crack down on malicious law violators and would not affect diligent business operators," Tezuka said.
"We are proposing making personal information available without consent in principal if it is used for AI development, and for this, we need to ensure proper governance among business operators," he said.
Noting that the world is changing with the emergence of AI, the commission chair said, "AI is like a living thing, so we need to feed it data and let it grow."
"If personal information is included in such data, the current law requires people's consent in advance in some cases," he pointed out, adding that this requirement has hindered technological development.
The personal information protection law is "essential in ensuring the healthy development of data use," Tezuka said.
At the same time, he stressed that Japan cannot compete with other countries in AI development under the current law. Among the Group of Seven major democracies, only Japan and Canada have not introduced a system involving monetary fines, he said.
Another focal point of the law revision is child protection. "Children's judgment is not on the same level as adults," Tezuka said. "It's important to develop systems and technologies on the assumption that they are used by children."
"We aim to submit (a bill to revise the law) soon, but we don't have a specific schedule in mind," Tezuka said.
"The commission had previously been headed mainly by legal experts, but I was appointed this time as someone who specializes in technology, because what is needed now is a data strategy," he emphasized.
"I think the government's policy on personal information protection has entered a new stage," Tezuka said. "It is my duty to ensure coherence between data use and protection, and to work out the details (of the law revision)."
