Only certain forms of personal information fall within the notion of "personal data" under the APPI. In fact, "personal data" is defined as "personal information constituting a personal information database", i.e. a "collective body of information" comprising personal information "systematically organized so as to be able to search for particular personal information using a computer" (17) or "prescribed by cabinet order as having been systematically organized so as to be able to easily search for particular personal information" but "excluding those prescribed by cabinet order as having little possibility of harming an individual's rights and interests considering their utilization method" (18).

Certain provisions of the APPI, notably Articles 27 to 30 relating to individual rights, apply only to a specific category of personal data, namely "retained personal data". Those are defined under Article 2(7) of the APPI as personal data other than those which are either (i) "prescribed by cabinet order as likely to harm the public or other interests if their presence or absence is made known"; or (ii) "set to be deleted within a period of no longer than one year that is prescribed by cabinet order".

Violations of the provisions of the APPI by a PIHBO can give rise to civil actions as well as criminal proceedings and sanctions. First, if an individual considers that his/her rights under Articles 28, 29 and 30 of the APPI have been infringed, (s)he may seek injunctive relief by asking the court to order a PIHBO to satisfy his/her request under one of these provisions, i.e. to disclose retained personal data (Article 28), to rectify retained personal data that is incorrect (Article 29) or to cease unlawful processing or third party provision (Article 30). Such an action may be brought without the need to rely on Article 709 of the Civil Code (63) or otherwise on tort law (64). In particular, this means that the individual does not have to prove any harm.

Second, in the case where an alleged infringement does not concern individual rights under Articles 28, 29 and 30 but general data protection principles or obligations of the PIHBO, the concerned individual may bring a civil action against the business operator based on the torts provisions of the Japanese Civil Code, especially Article 709. While a lawsuit under Article 709 requires, aside from fault (intention or negligence), a demonstration of harm, according to Article 710 of the Civil Code such harm may be both material and immaterial. No limitation is imposed as to the amount of compensation.

As regards the available remedies, Article 709 of the Japanese Civil Code refers to monetary compensation. However, Japanese case law has interpreted this article as also conferring the right to obtain an injunction (65). Therefore, if a data subject brings an action under Article 709 of the Civil Code and claims that his/her rights or interests have been harmed by an infringement of an APPI provision by the defendant, that claim may include, besides compensation for damage, a request for injunctive relief, notably aiming at stopping any unlawful processing.

As regards judicial redress, under the Administrative Case Litigation Act, an individual who is not satisfied with an administrative disposition made by the PPC may file a mandamus suit (68) asking the Court to order the PPC to take further action (69). In certain cases, the court may also issue a provisional order of mandamus, so as to prevent irreversible harm (70). Furthermore, under the same Act, an individual may seek revocation of a PPC decision (71).

In order to facilitate complaint handling, the NPA has issued a "Notice" to the Police and Prefectural Public Safety Commissions on the proper handling of complaints regarding the execution of duties by police officers. In this document, the NPA stipulates standards for the interpretation and implementation of Article 79 of the Police Law. Among others, it requires the Prefectural Police to establish a "system for handling complaints" and to handle and report all complaints to the competent Prefectural Public Safety Commission "promptly". The Notice defines complaints as claims seeking correction "for any specific disadvantage that has been inflicted as the result of an illegal or inappropriate behaviour" (115) or "failure to take a necessary action, by a police officer in his/her execution of duty" (116), as well as any "grievance/discontent about inappropriate mode of duty execution by a police officer". The material scope of a complaint is thus broadly defined, covering any claim of unlawful collection of data, and the complainant does not have to demonstrate any harm suffered as a result of a police officer’s actions. Importantly, the Notice stipulates that foreigners (among others) shall be provided with assistance in formulating a complaint. Following a complaint, the Prefectural Public Safety Commissions are required to ensure that the Prefectural Police examines the facts, implements measures "according to the result of the examination" and reports on the results. Where the Commission considers the examination to be insufficient, it shall issue an instruction on the handling of the complaint, which the Prefectual Police is required to follow. Based on the reports received and the measures taken, the Commission notifies the individual indicating, among others, the measures taken to address the complaint. The NPA Notice stresses that complaints should be handled in a "sincere manner" and that the result should be notified "within the scope of time […] deemed appropriate in the light of the social norms and common sense".

Moreover, unlike for criminal investigations, individuals (including foreign nationals living abroad) have in principle a right to disclosure (139), correction (including deletion) and suspension of use/provision under the APPIHAO. This being said, the head of the Administrative Organ may refuse disclosure with respect to information "for which there are reasonable grounds […] to find that disclosure is likely to cause harm to national security" (Article 14(iv) APPIHAO) and may even do so without revealing the existence of such information (Article 17 APPIHAO). Likewise, while an individual may request suspension of use or deletion pursuant to Article 36(1)(i) APPIHAO in case the Administrative Organ has obtained the information unlawfully or retains/uses it beyond what is necessary to achieve the specified purpose, the authority may reject the request if it finds that the suspension of use "is likely to hinder the proper execution of the affairs pertaining to the Purpose of Use of the Retained Personal Information due to the nature of the said affairs" (Article 38 APPIHAO). Still, where it is possible to easily separate and exclude portions that are subject to an exception, Administrative Organs are required to grant at least partial disclosure (see e.g. Article 15(1) APPIHAO) (140).

In addition, individuals may seek judicial redress in the form of a damage action under the State Redress Act, which also covers moral harm and under certain conditions the deletion of the collected data (see recital 147).