Cabinet Approves Relaxing Some Personal Info Regulations to Boost AI Development; Penalties for Malicious Violations to Be Made Stricter

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:46 JST, April 8, 2026

As part of efforts to support the development of artificial intelligence, the government on Wednesday approved a bill that would relax regulations under the Law on the Protection of Personal Information at a Cabinet meeting before submitting the bill to the House of Representatives.

The bill seeks to strike a balance between privacy protection and supporting AI development by establishing a new penalty system for malicious violations of the law. The government aims to pass it during the current Diet session.

Under the current law, businesses must obtain an individual’s consent when acquiring sensitive personal information that requires special care in handling — such as their medical records, disabilities or criminal records.

However, under the new bill, businesses could be exempted from having to obtain consent to collect such information, as long as it is only to be used for statistical and other limited purposes. Since this scheme would apply to the collection of vast amounts of data essential for AI training, it is expected to provide a boost to the development of the technology.

While the bill would relax regulations in some ways, penalties for remaining violations would be strengthened. In cases of serious violations that infringe on individual rights, the bill would newly allow for the imposition of administrative fines equivalent to the profits gained by the business operator.

Rules on the handling of children’s personal information would also be tightened. When a business operator collects personal information on individuals under the age of 16, it would be required to notify their parents of its purpose in acquiring the data.