The Defense Agency is at the center of a privacy scandal. An information officer of the Maritime Self-Defense Force is said to have prepared a sensitive list of personal data, with defamatory footnotes, about people who had requested information from the agency under the Freedom of Information Law. The list was reportedly read by about 20 SDF personnel. That constitutes a grave breach of trust and a serious violation of privacy.
The Defense Agency's decision to take disciplinary action against the lieutenant commander is only to be expected. But punishing him just for violating the SDF Law may not be enough, for what he did also affects legislation designed to protect personal data, including a privacy bill now before the Diet. The agency should first find out exactly what happened and make it public.
A person requesting information from the Defense Agency must fill in a request form at the agency's information disclosure section, stating his or her name, address and the place where he or she normally can be contacted during office hours. It is unnecessary to give any other personal data.