Japan's House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday revising the nation's personal data protection law, aiming to relax restrictions on using individual information to foster domestic AI development and deployment, The Mainichi reported on Tuesday.
The new law makes it easier for companies to access and use personal data, with violators facing fines, and no longer needed for AI training or statistical analysis when individuals remain unidentifiable, the news agency said.
This means firms can collect publicly available information from social media and other platforms without permission, and can also share corporate-held data with other companies, the publication said.
Currently, consent is generally needed to obtain sensitive details like medical histories or criminal records, but with AI development reliant on vast amounts of online data, securing individual approval has proven unworkable, the report said.
To ensure proper data handling, the revised law introduces penalties, including fines equivalent to any profits gained by individuals or entities that improperly obtain or use personal data belonging to more than 1,000 people, it said.
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