The ruling coalition parties are considering amending controversial bills on the protection of personal information to include penalties for violations by bureaucrats and a clause to take freedom of expression into account, it was learned Saturday.
The contentious bills, designed to protect private information, were submitted to the current Diet session but have been stalled. Coalition officials hope to have the bills enacted during the extraordinary Diet session that is expected to be held in the fall.
According to sources close to the tripartite coalition, a new clause will be added to one of the bills to penalize bureaucrats found to have violated the law with a maximum 10-month prison term or a fine of up to 500,000 yen. The punishments are harsher than the maximum six-month prison term for people in the private sector.