In April 2026, Japan's government approved amendments to its Personal Information Protection Act that remove the requirement for opt-in consent before sharing personal data in some cases, The Register reported. The changes are limited to data that poses little risk of infringing individuals' rights, used for statistics or research.
The move contrasts with the EU's heavier compliance approach and positions Japan as a lighter-touch jurisdiction for AI training data, though the carve-out is narrow.
Source: The Register