Information leaks reached record levels in FY 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) – The number of personal information breaches in Japan in fiscal year 2023 rose 58% from a year earlier to a record high of 12,120 cases, a government agency said Tuesday.

Operators that process personal information were required to make data breach reporting efforts under the Personal Information Protection Act beginning in fiscal 2017. The report became mandatory in fiscal 2022.

In fiscal year 2023, which ended last March, the number of information breaches involving My Number identification numbers reported under the My Number law rose 95% to 334 cases, according to the Personal Information Protection Commission.

The increase in My Number information breaches and the number of cases overall both reflected the prevalence of human error, the commission said.