EU Parliament Gives Nod to Japan’s Data Privacy Laws

The European Parliament and the European Data Protection Board, in separate opinions Dec. 13, broadly backed a European Commission decision recognizing Japan’s data protection regime as adequate to protect the privacy of European Union citizens but said some provisions should be amended.

Lawmakers are concerned about differing definitions of personal data in the EU and Japan, the independence of the Japanese data protection authority, and the limited fines under Japanese law for privacy breaches, Parliament said Dec. 13 in a nonbinding resolution approved 516-26 with 11 abstentions.

Meanwhile, the board, which is comprised of data protection supervisors from EU countries, ...