Japan Logs over 19,000 Personal Data Breaches in FY 2025

Tokyo, July 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan received reports of 19,417 personal data breach cases in fiscal 2025, the second-highest annual total on record, only eclipsed by the previous year’s 21,007 cases, according to a report by a government commission. Data breaches reported by private-sector entities decreased to 17,139 from 19,056, while breaches at government agencies increased to a record 2,278 from 1,951, said the report by the Personal Information Protection Commission, adopted by the cabinet Tuesday. The commission issued one administrative order, its most severe enforcement measure, to a name list broker found to have supplied names and addresses to fraud group members. The case prompted the commission’s first emergency order in May last year. The commission also took 649 guidance or advisory measures and made two recommendations. “Many cases involved hospitals and pharmacies erroneously providing documents to the wrong recipients or companies misdirecting items such as credit cards,” digital transformation and cybersecurity minister Hisashi Matsumoto said after a cabinet meeting. “We’ll check what measures are taken to prevent a recurrence and continue taking action,” Matsumoto said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]