Japan is looking to legislate a "security clearance" system, which grants some individuals special access to classified government data, in 2024 to prevent critical information from leaking to overseas entities, a government source said Saturday.
The move comes as "dual-use" technology, in which cutting-edge innovation developed by private businesses can be used for military purposes, has been expanded. The plan is expected to be included in the country's revised economic security bill next year.
Security clearance is likely to be necessary for information ranging from economic sanctions to cyber and space policies, with the Japanese government also considering introducing penalties for data breaches, the source said.
Japan's security clearance system would be modeled after that utilized in the United States, which categorizes information into different levels.
Sanae Takaichi, who was retained as minister in charge of economic security in Wednesday's Cabinet reshuffle, has pledged to aim for the submission of the revised bill during the ordinary parliamentary session set to be convened in early 2024.
In Japan, concerns have been growing that domestic companies have missed out on business opportunities because they have been excluded from joint research endeavors overseas due to the lack of clear security clearance protocols.
While the government had planned to codify a clearance clause within a bill for enhancing economic security passed in May last year, it was struck down after some opposition parties expressed fears over the system potentially being an invasion of privacy.
During the screening process to be selected for access to classified data, individuals could have a wide range of personal information scrutinized, such as their travel histories, criminal records and financial situations.
© KYODO
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Kazuaki Shimazaki
Well, if that's what we need to do for international cooperation, sometimes there can be little choice.
Desert Tortoise
Japan was embarrassed I think it was last year by lapses in their handling of intelligence material when a retired Admiral made a presentation to a public audience that was created for him by an intelligence unit without going through official channels that really didn't exist. The US military expressed some discomfort over this although nothing terribly sensitive was in the brief the Admiral gave. It is not a bad thing for Japan to codify into law how classified materials are handled and the penalties for not adhering to the procedures in the law.