Rules for Handling Personal Information — Consent, Third-Party Provision, and Processing
頻出~28 min5 terms9 past questions
Goals of this unit
Tell opt-in from opt-out by when the person's consent is obtained
Separate the cases where third-party provision needs the person's consent from those where data can be passed without consent or the recipient is not a third party at all
Tell pseudonymization from anonymization by whether the processed data can still be traced back to the individual
Opt-in (オプトイン) is a method where a person's information is collected and used, or notices are sent to them, only when they have clearly given consent in advance.
Show the purpose
Person agrees
Include only those who agreed
Sending or use begins only for those who agreed.
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The purpose is explained first, the person is asked to take an action to agree, and only those who agree are included. People who stay silent or never reply are left out. A typical setup adds someone to a mailing list only after they tick the box themselves on a sign-up page.
AnalogyIt is like a dinner where seats are set only for guests who reply that they will come. No reply, no seat.
How to rememberTo opt in is to choose to step inside, and only the person can open that door.
Exam points
ExamUnder the Act on Specified Electronic Mail (特定電子メール法), advertising emails may in principle be sent only to recipients who agreed beforehand. Starting to send without consent and stopping only after a refusal can fall under its restrictions.
Opt-out (オプトアウト) is a method where use or sending of personal information starts without waiting for the person's prior consent, and stops once the person makes a request to stop.
Announce the purpose and how to stop
Start use or sending
Person asks to stop
Stop for that person
For the person who asked, use or sending stops from that point on.
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The person is told in advance what the data is for and how to stop it, and once a request arrives, use or provision stops from then on. Under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, giving personal data to a third party this way requires not only notifying the person or taking similar steps but also filing a notification with the Personal Information Protection Commission.
AnalogyIt is like a neighborhood circular passed from door to door. It goes to every household from the start, and only homes that say no are taken off the route.
How to rememberTo opt out is to choose to step outside. You start inside, and it is your own request that takes you to the exit.
Exam points
ExamOpt-out (オプトアウト) is a mechanism where the person asks for the use or provision of their information to stop, and the business stops in response.
Third-party provision (第三者提供) means a business handing personal data it holds to anyone other than the person and the business itself, and in principle it requires the person's prior consent.
Passing personal data to others
Rule: the person's prior consent is required
Examples of exceptions needing no consent
When based on laws and regulations
When needed to protect life, body or property and consent is hard to get
Recipients that are not third parties at all
Contractors handling outsourced work
Successors to the business through a merger, etc.
Joint-use partners (when the person was notified in advance, etc.)
Exceptions that allow provision without consent include cases based on laws and regulations and cases where it is needed to protect someone's life, body or property and getting the person's consent is difficult. Separately, recipients who get data through outsourcing, through business succession in a merger or similar, or through joint use after the person has been notified in advance are not third parties in the first place.
AnalogyIt is like asking a friend before showing someone else a letter they left with you. But when you cannot ask, say during a fire when they cannot be reached, different handling applies.
Exam points
ExamEven when the other company is closely tied to yours, handing it customers' personal data for use in its own business is third-party provision (第三者提供) and in principle needs the person's consent.
ExamPassing data to a contractor as part of outsourcing (委託) is not third-party provision. However, only the personal data needed for that outsourced work may be passed on.
Pseudonymization (仮名化) is processing that replaces names and similar details with other codes so that a specific individual cannot be identified unless matched with other information.
Item
Before
After
Name
Ichiro Sato
Replaced with code K1029
Phone number
A number starting with 090
Removed
Item purchased
2 boxes of black tea
Kept as is
Lookup table
None
K1029 = Ichiro Sato stored separately; matching reveals the person
Matching the data against the lookup table used for the replacement leads back to the original individual, so the processed data still leaves room to identify the person. Under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, data processed this way according to set standards is called pseudonymously processed information (仮名加工情報), a category created by the 2020 (Reiwa 2) amendment. It is meant for uses such as analysis inside the business and, in principle, cannot be provided to third parties.
AnalogyIt is like an author writing under a pen name. Readers cannot tell who it is, but the publisher's records show the real name.
How to rememberA pseudonym is only a stand-in name; the path back to the real one is kept somewhere else.
Anonymization (匿名化) is processing personal information so that a specific individual cannot be identified and the original information cannot be restored.
Method
Before
After
Delete
Name: Ichiro Sato
Remove the whole field
Group
Age: 34
30s
Coarsen
Address down to the street number
Prefecture only
Remove rare values
Age: 103
Drop that record
Methods such as deleting names, grouping ages into age bands and removing values that few others share are combined so that the data cannot lead back to the person even when joined with other information. Under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, data processed to the prescribed standards is called anonymously processed information (匿名加工情報). As long as obligations such as publishing the items it contains when creating or providing it are met, it can be given to third parties or used without the person's consent.
How to rememberAnonymous means "without a name": once the name is gone, no one can follow the trail back.
Exam points
ExamAnonymously processed information (匿名加工情報) is data processed to the standards so that the person cannot be identified and it cannot be restored. If obligations such as publication are met, it can be used without the person's consent.
Mix-upPseudonymized (仮名化) data can be traced to the person by matching it with the lookup table, while anonymized (匿名化) data cannot identify the person even when matched.
With opt-in (オプトイン), only people who have expressed consent are included; those who express nothing are left out.
Third-party provision (第三者提供) needs the person's consent in principle, though cases such as those based on laws and regulations allow it without consent.
Recipients through outsourcing, business succession or joint use are not third parties, but a contractor may receive only what the work requires.
Anonymously processed information (匿名加工情報) can be given to third parties without the person's consent if obligations such as publication are met.