Public Lecture: “Preventing Misuse or the Right to Exploit? How Should Use of Personal Information in Aggregated and Anonymised Form Be Regulated?” October 17 (Sat.).

Public Lecture:
“Preventing Misuse or the Right to Exploit?
How Should Use of Personal Information in Aggregated and Anonymised Form Be Regulated?”

【Host】　Institute of Comparative Law, Waseda University.
【Co-Host】　Society of International Business and Legal Studies; International Contract Legal Systems Division of The Japanese Association of International Business Law; and School of Law and Graduate School of Law, Waseda University.
【Date and Time】　October 17 (Sat.), 2026. 13:10-14:50.
【Venue】　To be announced as soon as it is determined.
【Language】　English (followed by a Japanese commentary and Q&A); No interpretation.
【Lecturer】　Professor Gehan Gunasekara (The University of Auckland Business School)
【Moderator】　Takashi Kubota (Professor, Faculty of Law, Waseda University / Research Staff, Institute of Comparative Law)
【Audience】　Students, faculty, staff, and the general public are welcome to attend.
◆No registration required. Please come directly to the venue.

【Program】
Facilitator: Prof. Takashi Kubota (Waseda University)

【About the Event】
This public lecture features Professor Gehan Gunasekara. He is an authority on personal information protection law studies in Oceania, with profound knowledge of comparative law and AI law. This event aims to provide an opportunity for Japanese scholars, practitioners, and students to engage in discussions and stimulate mutual academic growth.

【Abstract】
The dominant Internet platforms and interconnected devices which mediate the digital sphere have become the default aggregators and dispensers of personal information in the twenty-first century. The presenter argues that a gap in regulation currently exists due to the narrow definition of personal information (PI) which excludes aggregated and anonymised data. This allows such data to be used to target undefined online groups using digital tokens. More transparency is needed over the use of such tokens, but should affected groups also be able to control the tokens for their own purposes? Proposed amendments (Article 31-2) to Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) seek to restrict improper acquisition and use of “Personal-Related Information” where it allows targeting of individuals even where the information is not strictly PI. The presentation examines whether this goes far enough and how collective rights and interests over data might also be regulated. It argues that groups with shared characteristics should have corporate rights over their data.

Link to Japanese page.