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July 02, 2026
 

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PRIVACY

The logo of social media company Meta. As the tech behemoth spends billions annually to build out its artificial intelligence capabilities, employees at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are increasingly unhappy with their Mark Zuckerberg-led parent company.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 2, 2026
Fear and anger brew inside Meta amid AI frenzy
After weathering layoffs, some Meta employees were reassigned to an internal artificial intelligence training initiative that has drawn accusations of surveillance.
Aflac Japan reported a data breach on Tuesday that affected over 4 million customers.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2026
Aflac Japan reports data breach affecting over 4 million customers
For about 230,000 customers, information about premium payment accounts was also compromised.
Google and Apple are among a group of technology companies that have expressed opposition to a proposed law in Canada allowing police more access to citizens’ data.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 27, 2026
Apple and Google blast Canada’s plan to give police more access to citizen data
The Canadian government is defending the Lawful Access Act, saying it’s designed to ensure police have the legal tools to “prevent, investigate and respond” to modern crime.
The House of Representatives passes a bill to revise the personal information protection law with support from the ruling bloc and the Democratic Party for the People on Tuesday at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
May 26, 2026
Lower House approves bill to revise personal information protection law
The bill includes a provision requiring businesses that repeatedly commit violations to pay fines equivalent to the earned profit to state coffers.
Temporary street signs warn pedestrians of a Metropolitan Police live facial recognition operation in London on May 11.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 25, 2026
On London’s streets, facial recognition tests the balance between security and liberty
Britain has long been one of the world’s heaviest users of CCTV cameras in public spaces, and Londoners can be caught ​on film up to several ‌hundred times a day.
Tokyo Detention House guidelines dictate that CCTV surveillance can be used when detainees are at risk of suicide or self-harm, or when there is concern they may try to escape.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 20, 2026
Female death row inmate sues Japan government over 24/7 surveillance
A death-row inmate says she’s been surveilled 24/7 for 24 years. Now, she’s suing the Japanese government for a breach of human rights.
A technician in the server room of the Sberbank PJSC data processing center at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, Moscow, in 2017. The European Union passed new legislation regulating the sale of surveillance technologies in 2021.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 12, 2026
Europe exported spyware to human rights abusers, watchdog says
Human Rights Watch’s findings indicate that European Union regulations introduced in 2021 to rein in exports of the technology are not being properly enforced.
An attendee holds a sign during an Alberta separatist event in Calgary in January.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2026
Alberta independence activists are embroiled in voter data scandal
The fact separatist activists had the list of electors has caused a political furor in Canada, and it has raised questions around privacy ahead of a potential vote on independence.
A top Google scientist warned EU antitrust regulators that its proposal ​requiring the company to share search engine data with rivals risked exposing ‌users' private information.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 6, 2026
Top Google scientist says EU data measures pose privacy risk for users
The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, has in recent years cracked down on Big Tech via a slew of legislation.
Through much of 2025, a U.S. special agent had been looking into claims that some Meta employees and contractors could see the content of encrypted WhatsApp messages. The investigation was just abruptly closed.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2026
U.S. ends investigation into claims WhatsApp chats aren’t private
The abrupt closure ends a law enforcement inquiry into claims that challenge how the company markets the chat service’s privacy.
The Justice Ministry setting up a study panel regarding the misuse of generative artificial intelligence comes amid a sharp rise in such cases and concerns legislation in Japan has not kept up with the rapid advancement of AI.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2026
Government to launch study panel for generative-AI misuse
With a meeting scheduled for late April, the group will examine civil liability for the unauthorized use of people’s likenesses and voices.
Some U.S. lawyers are telling their clients not to ⁠treat AI chatbots like trusted confidants when their freedom or legal liability is on the line.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 16, 2026
AI ruling prompts warnings from U.S. lawyers: Your chats could be used against you
Warnings have grown after a federal judge in New York ruled this year that the former CEO of a bankrupt financial services company could not shield his AI chats from prosecutors.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The government has submitted a bill to the Lower House to introduce fines for serious violations of the personal information protection law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2026
Japan to fine repeat violators of personal info law
The government hopes the move will have a deterrent effect by making clear to businesses that violations could incur economic penalties.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (center) has denied any involvement in the leaking of the private information of a whistleblower who died in July 2024.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 28, 2026
Hyogo governor not indicted over information leak case
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito has denied any involvement in the leaking of the private information of a whistleblower who died in July 2024.
Russia is pushing its Max social media platform in a heavy-handed rollout that has raised concerns that Moscow will use the app to surveil its citizens and further cut digital links to the West.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Russia’s Max: The unencrypted super-app being forced on citizens
Max is being rolled out with a massive promotion campaign and the simultaneous blocking of Whatsapp and Telegram, the country’s two most popular messenger apps.
The government in Hong Kong has announced a further crackdown on dissent, empowering police ​to demand people provide passwords ‌or decryption methods for electronic devices without a court order.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Hong Kong police given new powers to obtain phone and computer passwords
The city government has announced the new police powers as amendments to the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
The Indian Supreme Court building in New Delhi in 2010
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2026
Activists and journalists set for court fight over Modi’s privacy law
Concerns have been raised over a possible chilling effect on newsgathering and the hindering of accountability journalism.
Anthropic’s clash with the Pentagon is drawing fresh attention to the role of artificial intelligence in mass surveillance.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 6, 2026
Pentagon feud with Anthropic shines light on AI’s role in mass surveillance
The tactic can allow the government to collect valuable intelligence about foreign adversaries, terrorists and criminals, while critics say it can be abused.
The White House is pictured behind a fence in Washington on April 25, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2026
U.S. orders diplomats to fight data sovereignty initiatives
The dominance of U.S. AI companies — many of which use personal data to power their models — spotlights EU concerns around privacy and surveillance.
Vehicles drive past a burnt billboard in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Jan. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 5, 2026
Countries using internet blackouts to boost censorship, privacy firm warns
Governments in countries like Iran and Myanmar are emerging from internet shutdowns with a supercharged ability to censor internet access.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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