Abstract
This article will show how data privacy is legally recognized and treated in Japan and argue in particular how it can (not) play a role as a tool to combat discrimination in the workplace. The first part will depict a brief history of the development of the ‘right to privacy’ in Japan. This part will also take a look at the national Act on Protection of Personal Information and its complicated enforcement, paying attention to the general legal culture in Japan. The second part will observe other laws which are related to personal data protection and legal protection against discrimination. At the end of this article the author will make a comment on the Japanese data privacy law and its desirable development.
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I would like to give special thanks to the Faculty of Law and Letters at the University of the Ryukyus, Professor Tsuneo Namihira, Professor Kiyosada Somae for their kind help and arrangement enabling me to work in the pleasant environment. I would also like to thank Professor Atsuhiro Maruyama and Alex Boniface Makulilo for helping me to obtain important materials.
Tsubasa Wakabayashi Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Zentrum für Europäische Rechtspolitik (ZERP) der Universität Bremen, Master of Laws (Osaka University 2000), LL.M. (UCLA 2002), Doctor of Laws (Osaka University 2005)
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Wakabayashi, T. Data privacy as a tool to combat discrimination?. Datenschutz Datensich 36, 327–332 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11623-012-0129-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11623-012-0129-z