The Diet Approves Active Cyber Defense Act

The House of Councillors approved the bill for introducing active cyber defense on security of important infrastructure in Japan. The law enables the government to constantly oversee cyber space and remove the source of harms when it finds an attacker. The bill was partly revised with concern of the opposition parties which had concerns of violation of the people’s freedom of communication. The government is required to exercise its power with consideration of privacy. 

Being afraid of cyberattacks causing crucial damage on people’s life, the government has been seeking ways to proactively take countermeasures against the enemies. The government will watch communications between Japan and foreign countries, or between foreign countries through Japan. If it finds a sign of attacks on basic fifteen kinds of infrastructure, including electricity, gas, railroads, financial institutes, the police and self-defense force will sneak into the server of attackers and remove the danger.

 

While the government explains that it will only deal with IP address, not substance of communications, which are related to foreigners, not censoring genuinely domestic communications, there remains a concern that private communications are observed by the government. Newly established independent committee for controlling cyber community will check the activity of cyber defense and report to the Diet, when the designated infrastructure was damaged.

 

In the discussion of the House of Representatives, the bill was revised to assure the government not to violate privacy. The parties added a provision that “it cannot be tolerated for the government to unfairly restrict the people’s right and liberty including secrecy of communication.”

 

The House of Councillors passed a resolution to limit the purpose of obtaining information to cyber security measures. The police cannot use the information for their investigation of crime. The Upper House also required the independent committee to immediate report to the Diet so that it can exercise effective power for observation.

 

The bill passed the Diet with approval of not only the leading coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, but also the opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic party for the People. Japan Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi voted against the bill.

 

Concerns on violation of freedom of communication still remain. The government did not rule out a possibility that the censoring would be extended to domestic communications. Under the new law, the government can obtain not only IP address but also cellphone number or account of social networking service such as Line. There is a discussion that the sneaking into foreign servers may be recognized as an attack on foreign country. It is inevitable that the government will need to explain its activities to the overseas.

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