Japan Press Weekly

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2024 April 3 - 9 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP in Yokohama urges city gov’t to stop providing citizens’ personal data without their consent to SDF

The Japanese Communist Party Yokohama City Assemblymembers’ group on April 4 made representations to the city government, demanding that the provision of citizens’ personal data without their consent to the Self-Defense Forces be discontinued.

The Yokohama City government in fiscal 2021 began supplying address label sheets, on which young citizens’ names and addresses are printed, to SDF recruiters. In FY2024, the city government will give mailing labels based on a list of citizens aged 18 years old to the SDF. On the other hand, pushed jointly by the JCP assemblypersons’ group and concerned citizens, the city authority launched a system that enables young citizens who do not want their personal data to be given to the SDF can apply for exclusion from the list compiled by the city.

In the representations, Furuya Yasuhiko, who heads the JCP assemblymembers’ group, pointed out that the city government’s act of giving young citizens’ personal data without their consent to the SDF goes against Article 13 of the Constitution guaranteeing people’s right to privacy. A city government official claimed that the provision of the data is required by the national government. Refuting the official’s claim, Furuya said that in 2023, in response to his inquiry, the Defense Ministry said that the provision of citizens’ personal information is voluntary, adding that the city government can stop this practice at its discretion.

Past related article:
> Over 60% of municipal governments provide citizens’ personal data without their consent to SDF [August 16, 2