(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| MITI to Set Industrial Standard for Privacy Protection
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March 1, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Japan's Ministry of International Trade and
Industry said a new Japanese Industrial Standard, JIS Q 15001, will
go into effect March 20 to create privacy protection.
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JIS Q 15001 is to be called "Compliance Program Requirements Regarding
the Protection of Personal Data." The Japanese Industrial Standards
Committee formulated the new standard, based on guidelines published
by MITI concerning the protection of personal data in the private sector,
and on the "Privacy Mark System" which is being promoted by the Japan
Information Processing Development Center (JIPDEC).
JIS are national standards that apply to industrial products and to information
processing by computers and other means. Businesses that engage in electronic
commerce or Web marketing are included in the JIS scope of applications.
The new JIS is likely to become a basis for safeguarding customer privacy
when conducting business on the Internet.
For a business to publicly declare compliance with the privacy protection
standard, it must first prepare a compliance program as stipulated in
the new JIS.
A compliance program is an operations plan that the business must draw
up to ensure that personal data is protected. Under the requirements
of the program, the business must appoint someone to be responsible
for protecting personal data and must state exactly how personal data
will be collected, used, managed and disclosed to third parties.
The terms of compliance also require the business to provide staff training
in handling personal data, and to conduct periodic inspections to ensure
that the compliance program is being followed.
A business that institutes a compliance program can either self-declare
conformity with the JIS criteria, or declare compliance on the basis
of evaluation by a trading partner or third-party organization that
undertakes an audit of the business.
JIPDEC, as the body responsible for granting privacy marks to certify
JIS compliance, is in a position to offer such evaluations, but private-sector
enterprises may also offer inspection services as third-party organizations.
"By setting the criteria for privacy protection as an official national
standard, we hope to raise the awareness of businesses and consumers
alike in regard to personal information," said Hiroshi Kuwayama of the
Management System Standards Division, Standards Department, Agency of
Industrial Science and Technology, MITI.
MITI will actively promote the new JIS among online merchants, since
allaying consumer fears about electronic transactions is a prime concern
of businesses trading on the Internet. However, for online merchants
who operate as individuals, setting up a compliance program as required
by the new standard will be a difficult hurdle and MITI will likely
have a tough time getting businesses to accept the new standard.
Related stories:
� Online Shopper Numbers Stall in Japan: Nikkei
Multimedia Survey
� Electronic Settlements Become Customer-Oriented
Services
(Nikkei
Multimedia)
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