Does Privacy Exist in the Age of Big Data?

In this lecture, Professor Ishii will look at changing technology over the past few decades, and examine how rapid development has affected privacy law and personal data protection in Japan. Such a discussion would not be complete without mention of the Privacy by Design framework, an approach to systems engineering that considers privacy from the outset, rather than tacked on as an afterthought. Originating with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in 1995, the principles are used broadly around the world.
Discussions on protecting personal data in Japanese statutes have been made in reference to technologies such as tracking techniques for behavioral advertising, accumulating massive personal data in cloud computing services, collecting personal preferences via smart phone applications, profiling using Big Data, data collected through sensor functions of the Internet of Things, and the like.

Kaori Ishii is an Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba, Faculty of Library, Information and Media Science and is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of Law & Business at Ryerson University. Prior to working in academia, she served as an attorney at law, and also worked for the legal department of a large manufacturing company in Japan. She has contributed much in her role as a member of many expert committees in the Cabinet Secretariat, Ministries, and local governments in Japan, and has also served as a commentator on TV and in printed media.