Japan personal data leaks hit record high 13,000 cases in FY 2023

    TOKYO, May 28 Kyodo - Personal data leaks in Japan jumped some 70 percent to a record 13,279 cases in fiscal 2023, a draft annual report by a government panel showed Tuesday, underscoring poor data management in both the public and private sectors.

    The total was boosted by municipal governments reporting nearly 1,000 cases after they were newly included among those required to report such leaks, while companies saw a sharp increase.

    Of the total, 12,120 data leaks were reported by the private sector in fiscal 2023 ended March, up 58 percent from the previous year.

    The public sector, including government agencies and municipal governments, accounted for 1,159 cases -- around 10 times the number reported in the prior year.

    The majority of the cases in both the private and public sectors affected less than 1,000 individuals each time, with human errors such as misdelivery and improper disposal of paper documents as the leading cause.

    But the scale of online data leaks, such as those involving Toyota Motor Corp. and the operator of the Line messaging app, were significant.

    An incident involving the Digital Agency, which erroneously registered numerous IDs in the "My Number" national identification system with other people's information, was listed among the cases highlighting the need for enhanced risk management of the country's personal information management system.

    In anticipation of the growth of generative artificial intelligence services, the report also emphasized the importance of measures to prevent the nonconsensual collection of sensitive data such as medical histories.

    The report is expected to be released officially after Cabinet approval in early June.

==Kyodo