September 16, 2025 Implementation of Request on How Communication Histories Should Be Stored

　The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) today issued a written request to related organizations regarding how communication histories should be stored.

Note: The published materials are available in Japanese only.

　In the "Comprehensive Measures to Protect People from Frauds 2.0 (decided by the Ministerial Meeting Concerning Measures against Crime on April 22, 2025)," the Japanese government has stated that it will "consider revising the guidelines for protection of personal information in telecommunications business and making it mandatory to store communication histories."

　Moreover, in recent years, with changes in the social environment, such as the high level of distribution of illegal and harmful information, including slanderous comments on social media (SNS) and internet message boards, requests for disclosure of sender identification information have been on the increase. However, specific issues have become apparent, such as the inability to obtain disclosure of sender identification information due to the expiration of the retention period for communication histories.

　Based on the above, the "Study Group on the Improvement of the Usage Environment for ICT Services" and the "Working Group on the Retention of Communication Logs", both of which are expert panels established by the MIC, conducted a study on how communication histories should be stored, and compiled the results in September of this year.

　In light of the above issues, the MIC today requested relevant organizations to implement necessary measures.