Search - information

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Police officer arrested for leaking secret data

A 52-year-old Tokyo policeman has been arrested for allegedly leaking confidential information, including criminal records, to a private detective agency run by a former high-ranking police officer.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 1999

First breach in the government wall

After two decades of on-and-off arguments, the Diet finally passed a freedom of information bill into law last Friday. For the first time in Japan's history, a law stipulates that the government "has the duty to explain to the nation" the way government ministries and agencies run their affairs. To be...
JAPAN
May 7, 1999

Public must mold info-disclosure system to needs

Staff writer
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1998

Ailing Chubu localities won't say where cash went

OKAYAMA -- Nationally and internationally, Japan's banking mess has received a lot of press coverage and is generally considered by politicians, media pundits and business leaders to be the nation's most urgent problem.
Japan Times
Jun 21, 2023

Kotozna has released ConcierGPT, an interactive communication service for the hospitality and service industry implementing GPT-4

Kotozna (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO Genri Goto, https://kotozna.com/en) is pleased to announce the launch of Kotozna ConcierGPT on June 14, 2023, a multilingual AI concierge available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. By combining the evolution of LLM (Large Language Model) and Kotozna's technology,...
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 9, 2023

Leaked documents reveal depth of U.S. spy efforts and Russia’s military struggles

The information, exposed on social media sites, also shows that U.S. intelligence services are eavesdropping on important allies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 4, 2023

ChatGPT presents dilemma for Japanese companies

While some firms such as Panasonic Connect have embraced the chatbot, albeit with safeguards, others have restricted use of the service among their employees.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2022

As Japan looks to possible fourth COVID shots, hesitancy and disinformation linger

Almost 80% of people in Japan have received at least two COVID-19 doses, but that doesn't mean all are planning to get additional shots.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 19, 2021

A look at the intimate details Amazon knows about us

The company now makes the data it collects on U.S. customers available upon request failing to defeat a measure requiring such disclosures.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 11, 2020

Should Tokyo ban TikTok and WeChat?

I had not used TikTok until yesterday. My niece in her mid-20s said she had stopped using the TikTok app — a Chinese-owned video-sharing social networking service — because it's best suited for teenagers. After downloading and trying the app for a while, I deleted it because she was right.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2020

Google search upgrades make it harder for websites to win traffic

For some web publishers that have historically relied on the internet giant to send users to their sites, the subtle tweaks have siphoned off vital traffic.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2020

A dispatch from the heart of Japan’s coronavirus epidemic

Disputes over privacy rights and disjointed data collection are spurring tensions between reporters and Tokyo officials about the capital's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2020

Japan's cities and prefectures split on whether to disclose travel details of coronavirus patients

When a tour bus driver became Japan's first case in the outbreak, it sparked a nationwide debate on how closely patients' privacy should be protected.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 24, 2020

Shaken by Kobe quake, Peruvian works to help Hyogo's Spanish speakers in times of disaster

Roxana Oshiro, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, came to Japan in 1991 and was living in a dormitory in Kobe with her husband and child when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit the region in 1995.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition
Sep 14, 2018

Nation hopes to share international water technology

Tokyo will host the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018 from Sunday to Friday. The event is expected to attract 6,000 people from more than 100 countries to discuss technology, public policies, international collaboration and other subjects to achieve sustainable water management practices.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2018

Data mining for profit and manipulation

Every day brings new revelations about the protection of personal data and the nefarious uses to which it can be put.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 20, 2018

U.K. investigates Facebook over data breach as it plans raid of Cambridge Analytica

Britain is investigating whether Facebook did enough to protect data after a whistleblower said a London-based political consultancy hired by Donald Trump improperly accessed information on 50 million Facebook users to sway public opinion.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 7, 2016

Japan's taxman sticks his OAR in, looking for leviable expat assets held abroad

Experts answer readers' queries about the overseas assets reporting law aimed at taxing wealth held outside Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2016

Faking of GPS data a growing and potentially lethal danger, expert warns

With a plethora of location-based services hitting the market, GPS appears to be an essential feature in today's digitally driven world.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2016

Print now, the digital dark ages are coming

If we want to ensure that our civilization lives on, we should probably be printing everything out and putting it in boxes.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 29, 2015

Database of 191 million U.S. voters exposed on Internet, says researcher

An independent computer security researcher uncovered a database of information on 191 million voters that is exposed on the open Internet due to an incorrectly configured database, he said on Monday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2015

Valid concerns over My Number

Public worry is high over the coming My Number system, and with good reason.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 5, 2014

Lessons of Fukushima: Reactor restarts are unwise

Kyle Cleveland, my colleague at Temple University Japan, recently published a report in the online Asia-Pacific Journal, "Mobilizing Nuclear Bias: The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and the Politics of Uncertainty" that has drawn widespread media attention. Based on numerous interviews with government officials,...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 14, 2013

State secrets bill shows Abe's tin ear for local politics

Former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, one of America's most influential politicians of the late 20th century, had some sage advice for those who thought about national or international politics. "All politics," O'Neill warned, "is local."
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2013

Bill to set up U.S.-style security council clears Lower House

The House of Representatives passes legislation to establish a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council and sends it to the Upper House for ratification.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 30, 2013

NSA chief: European spy agencies gave us data

The director of the National Security Agency on Tuesday dismissed as "completely false" reports that his agency swept up millions of phone records of European citizens, and he revealed that data collected by NATO allies were shared with the United States.
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2013

Drop antidemocratic secrecy bill

A proposed bill aimed at protecting state secrets that the government deems vital to national security would strongly limit people's access to relevant information.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2013

JR sells commuters' data

East Japan Railway's practice of selling statistical data from customers' prepaid train pass cards to market researchers should be stopped unless card users can opt out.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake