August 28, 2020 Release of Guidebook for Corporate Privacy Governance in the DX Era Ver. 1.0

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) have published the Guidebook for Corporate Privacy Governance in the DX Era Ver. 1.0, which summarizes what companies that are trying to take on new business should do to build privacy governance.

1. Background

METI and MIC had the Study Group on the Model of Corporate Privacy Governance (chaired by SATO Ichiro, Professor, the National Institute of Informatics) make a study on what companies that are trying to take on new business should do to build privacy governance. The Study Group has been established under the Working Group of Data Distribution Promotion of the IoT Promotion Consortium, which aims at activating data transactions beyond the boundaries of fields and industries.

With the participation of experts who had deep insight into privacy and data utilization, the Study Group discussed three requirements that management should address, along with the essential points of privacy governance. The discussion was based on companies’ role in the era of Society 5.0, the concept of privacy, and the importance of corporate privacy governance. The Study Group compiled the Guidebook for DX Corporate Privacy Governance ver. 1.0 in July 2020, made an appeal for opinions on the same from July 29 through August 12, 2020, and received 60 opinions. With consideration of the discussions up to now and the opinions received, METI and MIC have decided to open the same with the title changed to the Guidebook for Corporate Privacy Governance in the DX Era Ver. 1.0.

While the digital transformation (DX) of the whole society progresses, the Guidebook aims to contribute to the privacy protection activities of companies, and as a result, to enhance the value of corporate products and services, and the economic and social value of those companies themselves.

What is meant by privacy and possible impacts on privacy will not only depend on the target product or service and will also change due to technological advances and social concerns. We will continue to update the Guidebook in light of social trends.

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  The published material is in Japanese only.