2023.03.09

2022(O)39

Minshu Vol. 77, No. 3

(Civil Case) Judgment concerning Article 13 of the Constitution and the collection, keeping, use, or provision of Specific Personal Information (personal information that has the Individual Number included in its content) by administrative organs, local governments, and other persons handling administrative processes in accordance with the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (prior to the amendment by Act No. 36 of 2021)

Case seeking an injunction, etc. against the use of My Number (Individual Number)

Judgment of the First Petty Bench, dismissed

Fukuoka High Court, Judgment of September 29, 2021

The collection, keeping, use, or provision of Specific Personal Information (personal information that has the Individual Number included in its content) by administrative organs, local governments, and other persons handling administrative processes in accordance with the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (prior to the amendment by Act No. 36 of 2021), does not violate the freedom of a person guaranteed by Article 13 of the Constitution not to have information concerning the person published or disclosed to a third party without due cause.

Article 13 of the Constitution, and Article 1, Article 7, paragraph (2), Article 9, paragraphs (1) through (4), Article 10, Article 11, Article 12, Article 15, Article 16, Article 19, Article 20, Article 21, Article 21-2, Article 22, Article 23, Article 24, Article 25, Article 26, Article 27, Article 28, Article 29, Article 29-2, Article 29-3, Article 29-4, Article 30, Article 31, Article 32, Article 33, Article 34, Article 35, Article 37, and Chapter IX Penal Provisions of the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (prior to the amendment by Act No. 36 of 2021)

The final appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the appellants of the final appeal.

Concerning the reasons for the final appeal stated by the counsel for final appeal, YAMAMOTO Kazuyuki, et al. I. Outline of the case 1. In this case, the appellants, who have been assigned Individual Numbers under the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (Prior to the amendment by Act No. 36 of 2021; hereinafter referred to as the "Number Use Act"), claim that the appellees' acts of collecting, keeping, using, or providing (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Using and Providing") the appellants' Specific Personal Information (Personal Information that includes the Individual Number in its contents) under the Number Use Act illegally infringe upon the appellants' right to privacy guaranteed under Article 13 of the Constitution and seek an injunction against the appellees' acts of Using and Providing the appellants' Individual Numbers and the deletion of the stored Individual Numbers of the appellants as a claim for prevention or exclusion of disturbance based on the right to privacy as well as solatium based on Article 1, paragraph (1) of the State Redress Act. 2. The outline, etc. of the facts lawfully determined by the court of prior instance is as follows: (1) Purpose of the Number Use Act The Purpose of the Number Use Act is (i) to provide for matters necessary to enable administrative organs, local governments and other persons handling administrative processes (hereinafter referred to as an "Administrative Organ, etc.") to manage and use information efficiently and to promptly send and receive information to and from other persons handling administrative processes, by making use of the function of an Individual Number etc. to identify specific individuals, etc. and by operating the information system that has been developed with the capabilities to, by said function, compare sets of information coming from different fields and verify if such information pertains to the same person, and thereby to optimize administrative operations and to secure fairer benefits and burdens in the administrative field, and to improve convenience of citizens filing an application etc. with Administrative Organs, etc. such as the reduced burden by simplifying the procedures, the simple procedures for identity verification; and (ii) to provide exceptions for the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Incorporated Administrative Agencies, and the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (All of the above are prior to the repeal or amendment by Act No. 37 of 2021; the same applies hereinafter; hereinafter collectively referred to as the "General Acts") in order that Specific Personal Information will be handled safely and properly (Article 1 of the Number Use Act). (2) Individual Numbers and their Range of Use (a) The term "Individual Number" means the number that was obtained by converting the residence certificate code (Article 7, item (xiii) of the Residential Basic Book Act) and is designated to identify the person pertaining to the residence certificate on which said residence certificate code is recorded (Article 2, paragraph (5) of the Number Use Act), which does not have a regularity with which the residence certificate code can be restored, but is composed of an 11-digit number and a one-digit number for inspection that are not duplicated nationwide, while the number to become the Individual Number is generated by the Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems (Article 8 of said Act and Article 8 of the Enforcement Order of said Act (prior to the amendment by Cabinet Order No. 195 of 2021; the same applies hereinafter)). The mayor of a municipality (including the mayor of special wards; the same applies hereinafter), with regard to a person who is presently registered in the basic resident registry held by said municipality (including special wards; the same applies hereinafter), must designate, as the Individual Number of the person, the number that was notified by the above-mentioned Agency as the number to become the Individual Number, and must notify the person of said Individual Number (Article 7, paragraph (1) of said Act and Article 3 of the Supplementary Provisions), and upon request of the person, an Individual Number Card pertaining to that person (a card on which the name, address, date of birth, sex, Individual Number, and other information specified by Cabinet Order are contained, along with a photograph of the person, and in which these pieces of information and other information specified by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications are recorded by electronic or magnetic means, and on which measures provided for by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as necessary for preventing any viewing or alteration by persons other than those authorized to view or alter Card Information, have been applied) is to be delivered (Article 17 of said Act, and Article 13 of the Enforcement Order of said Act). If the mayor of a municipality finds that the Individual Number of a person that is recorded on the basic resident registry held by said municipality is likely to be leaked and used without authorization, the mayor must, at the request of the person or ex officio, designate a new Individual Number in lieu of the prior Individual Number of the person and promptly notify the person of said Individual Number. (Article 7, paragraph (2) of said Act). (b) The Number Use Act provides that Administrative Organs, etc. may use Individual Numbers to the extent necessary to retrieve and manage Personal Information efficiently in the Specific Personal Information File (the Personal Information File that has the Individual Number included in its content) held by the Administrative Organs, etc. with regard to the handling of certain processes (Article 9, paragraphs (1) and (2) of said Act; hereinafter, the processes to be processed by using Individual Numbers to the above extent pursuant to these provisions are referred to as "Processes Using Individual Numbers"), and that a person who, pursuant to the provisions of laws and regulations or ordinances, was put in charge of implement handling processes that require the use of another person's Individual Number, such as the submission of documents containing another person's Individual Number that are deemed necessary for handling the certain processes above, may use Individual Numbers to the extent necessary to implement said processes (paragraph (3) of said Article; hereinafter, a process that is implemented using another person's Individual Number to the extent necessary, that is performed with regard to Processes Using Individual Numbers pursuant to the provisions of the same paragraph is referred to as "Processes Related to an Individual Number"), but at the same time, the range of Personal Information that is to be retrieved and managed by Individual Numbers is limited by limiting the extent of certain processes above to those specified in laws and regulations or ordinances in the fields of social security, taxation, disaster countermeasures, and similar fields. In addition, while the General Acts also prohibits, in principle, the use of Personal Information for purposes other than the purpose of use specified in advance (hereinafter referred to as the "Other Purpose Use") (Article 8 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs, etc.), the Number Use Act stipulates more strictly than the General Acts the exceptional circumstances under which the Other Purpose Use are permissible, permitting the Other Purpose Use of Specific Personal Information only when it is necessary for protecting the life, body, or property of people and the consent of the Person has either been given or is difficult to obtain, or in the event of a disaster of extreme severity which satisfies certain requirements (Articles 9, paragraph (4), Articles 30 and 32 of the Number Use Act). (3) Regulations Concerning the Provision of Specific Personal Information The Number Use Act prohibits, in principle, the provision of Specific Personal Information (Article 19 of said Act), and stipulates in each item of said Article the exceptional circumstances under which the prohibition may be lifted. Specifically, in addition to cases where the provision of Specific Personal Information is naturally expected under the system based on said Act or where Specific Personal Information is provided pursuant to the provisions of other laws that have permitted the provision of similar Personal Information prior to the enactment of said Act, the Number Use Act stipulates in items (vii) and (viii) that when an Administrative Organ, etc. needs to receive certain specific personal information from other Administrative Organs, etc. which is necessary for handling certain processes limited under the respective items, the provision of the Specific Personal Information is also permitted, and that when the information is provided under items (vii) or (viii), the use of the Information Providing Network System as described in (4) below is required. In addition, in order to prevent any unnecessary acquisition of Specific Personal Information itself, the Number Use Act provides that any person, except if the person falls under any of the items of said Article, must not request other persons (meaning persons other than those belonging to the same household as the person; the same applies hereinafter) to provide Individual Numbers, and any person must not collect or keep Specific Personal Information (limited to information containing another person's Individual Number) (Articles 15 and 20 of said Act). (4) Data Linkage through the Information Providing Network System (a) Even under the Number Use Act, Personal Information is not centrally managed through a common database, etc., and the situation remains the same in which each Administrative Organ, etc., manages Personal Information in a decentralized manner, and so, in order to achieve the objectives of the Act, data linkage among Administrative Organs, etc., is necessary. Therefore, this Act provides the following provisions regarding the provision of Specific Personal Information through the Information Providing Network System: (b) The term "Information Providing Network System" means an electronic data processing system that connects computers used by the heads of administrative organs, etc. to one another by telecommunications line and that are installed and managed by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications pursuant to the provisions of Article 21, paragraph (1) of this Act in order to manage the provision of Specific Personal Information under Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of this Act by using cryptography or other communication methods through which the content of the information cannot easily be restored (Article 2, paragraph 14 of said Act). The data linkage through the above system refers to the exchange of Specific Personal Information using the individual identification code for the provision of information (a code that identifies a specific individual used in place of an Individual Number to the extent necessary to manage the provision of Specific Personal Information pursuant to Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of the Number Use Act and to retrieve said Specific Personal Information) between the person requesting the provision of Specific Personal Information (hereinafter the person is referred to as the "Person Referring Information") and the person providing such information (hereinafter the person is referred to as the "Person Providing Information") pursuant to item (vii) or (viii) of said Article. Specifically, a Person Referring Information, after obtaining the above code from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications who installs and manages the above system, transmits the above code and the items of Specific Personal Information to be inquired to the Minister. Then, the Minister confirms that the provision of said Specific Personal Information satisfies the requirements prescribed in Article 21, paragraph (2) of said Act (i.e., that it has been made legally in accordance with Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of said Act, and that the Specific Personal Information Protection Assessment set forth in (5) (b) below has been properly conducted for the Specific Personal Information File held by the Person Referring Information and the Person Providing Information), and then notifies the Person Providing Information that there has been a request for the provision of said Specific Personal Information, and then the Person Providing Information who has received said notification provides said Specific Personal Information to the Person Referring Information (Articles 19, items (vii) and (viii), Articles 21, 21-2, 22, and 26 of said Act). The Number Use Act requires a Person Referring Information and a Person Providing Information as well as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications to record the names of the Person Referring Information and the Person Providing Information, the date and time of the request and the provision of Specific Personal Information, and the items of Specific Personal Information when such information is requested or provided pursuant to Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of said Act, and to preserve such records for a certain period of time (Article 23, Article 26 of said Act). The Person may request disclosure or correction of these records (Articles 31 and 32 of said Act, Articles 12 and 27 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs, etc.). (c) The Number Use Act requires a Person Referring Information and a Person Providing Information as well as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications to ensure the security and reliability of the Information Providing Network System and the computers used by the Person Referring Information and the Person Providing Information for the above-mentioned processes in order to prevent the leakage of secrets concerning the processes pertaining to the request or provision of Specific Personal Information under Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of said Act (Articles 24 and 26 of said Act). In response to this, the above system uses a closed network exclusively for administrative use, that is separated from the Internet, and it uses, as a code to identify a specific individual, an individual identification code for the provision of information from which an Individual Number cannot be inferred and which is different for each agency. The communication through the network is encrypted, and the Specific Personal Information itself provided by the Person Providing Information is also encrypted so that only said Person Referring Information can decrypt it. Furthermore, the Number Use Act prohibits persons who are or were engaged in the above-mentioned processes or in processes related to the operation of the above-mentioned system from leaking or appropriating secrets related to said processes that may have been acquired during the course of the operation (Articles 25 and 26 of said Act). (5) Regulations Concerning the Management of Specific Personal Information (a) The Number Use Act requires persons who handle Processes Using Individual Numbers or Processes Related to an Individual Number (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc.") and persons who are entrusted with such Processes (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Persons in Charge of Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc.") to take necessary measures to prevent the leakage, etc. of Individual Numbers and to otherwise manage Individual Numbers properly, and to take identity verification measures when receiving the Individual Numbers from a Person (Article 12, Article 16 of said Act). In addition, the Act permits the re-entrustment of Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc. only with the permission of the person who made the original entrustment of said Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc. (Article 10 of said Act), and requires the entrusting person to conduct necessary and proper supervision of the entrusted person in order to ensure the safe management of the Specific Personal Information (Article 11 of said Act). (b) In addition, the Number Use Act prohibits Persons in Charge of Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc. from creating a Specific Personal Information File beyond the scope necessary for implementing a Process Using an Individual Number, etc., except in cases falling under any of Article 19, items (xii) through (xvi) of said Act (Article 29 of said Act), and when the head of an administrative organ, etc. possesses or intends to possess the above file, the head of the administrative organ, etc. is required to provide those who are engaged in the processes handling the above file with training on the maintenance of the cybersecurity necessary to ensure the proper handling of Specific Personal Information (Article 29-2 of said Act). The Number Use Act provides that a person who intends to possess the above file must conduct for itself a Specific Personal Information Protection Assessment (meaning an assessment of the risk of occurrence and impact of leakage of Specific Personal Information and other situations) in advance and take measures to prevent the occurrence of these situations (Articles 27 and 28 of said Act). In cases where an Assessment is required to be conducted pursuant to Article 28 of said Act, the head of an administrative organ, etc. is to, before possessing said file, publicly notify the Assessment Report stating the results of the assessment with respect to an outline of the processes in which said file are handled and the number of persons who are engaged in said processes, the amount of Specific Personal Information to be recorded in said file, the mechanisms of the electronic data processing systems and methods of electronic data processing, etc. that are used for handling said file, and the measures to protect the Specific Personal Information recorded in said file, etc., and to broadly seek comments from the citizens with regard to said file. Then, the head of an administrative organ, etc., after giving due consideration to the opinions obtained and making the necessary reviews in the Assessment Report, is to obtain the approval of the Personal Information Protection Commission (a third-party organization established as an external bureau of the Cabinet Office pursuant to Article 49, paragraph (3) of the Act for the Establishment of the Cabinet Office (Article 59 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information); hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") with regard to the handling of said files stated in said Assessment Report, and if the head of an administrative organ, etc. receives an approval concerning the Assessment Report, the head is to promptly make said Assessment Report public. With respect to information recorded or to be recorded in a Specific Personal Information File for which an Assessment Report has not been made public, the provision or request for provision of such information pursuant to Article 19, item (vii) or (viii) of the Number Use Act is prohibited (Article 28 of said Act). (6) Systems to Ensure Regulatory Effectiveness (a) In order to ensure the effectiveness of the above regulations, the Number Use Act provides for penalties for malicious acts in violation of the above regulations, such as unauthorized provision of Specific Personal Information Files containing personal secrets (Article 48 of said Act), provision or appropriation for the purpose of improper gain, of Individual Numbers acquired during the course of operations (Article 49 of said Act), collection in an abuse of authority for the purposes other than one's work, of documents, etc. containing Specific Personal Information belonging to personal secrets (Article 52 of said Act), etc., and aggravates the statutory penalties compared to similar penalties under the General Acts (Chapter 9 of the Number Use Act). (b) In addition, the Number Use Act grants various powers to the Commission, an independent third-party organization, to monitor, supervise, etc. the handling of Specific Personal Information. Namely, Administrative Organs, etc. that possess Specific Personal Information Files are to periodically undergo an inspection by the Commission or report to the Commission with respect to the state of the handling of the Specific Personal Information recorded in the said files (Article 29-3 of said Act), and the Person in Charge of Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc. is to report to the Commission any serious situation such as a leakage of Specific Personal Information recorded in a Specific Personal Information File (Article 29-4 of said Act). The Committee may give necessary guidance and advice to a Person in Charge of Processes Using Individual Numbers, etc. concerning the handling of Specific Personal Information (Article 33 of said Act), and when it finds it necessary, it may make to a person who has committed an act in violation of the provisions of laws and regulations concerning the handling of Specific Personal Information a recommendation that the person cease said violation within a period of time set by Commission, or when it finds it necessary to take urgent measures, it may order the person to cease said violation without a recommendation (Article 34 of said Act). Furthermore, the Commission may request the persons handling Specific Personal Information and other persons concerned to make necessary reports or submit materials regarding the handling of Specific Personal Information, or have its officials enter the office of said persons concerned, etc., ask questions related to the handling of Specific Personal Information, or inspect books and documents, and other items (Article 35 of said Act). In addition, the Commission may request that the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and the other heads of the administrative organs concerned take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and reliability of the function of the Information Providing Network System, etc. in constructing, maintaining, and managing said system after seeking rationalization and optimization, and may request them to report the status of the implementation of the measures (Article 37 of said Act). II. Concerning the sections regarding the reasons for the final appeal that refer to violations of Article 13 of the Constitution 1. Article 13 of the Constitution stipulates that a citizen's freedom to lead a private life should be protected against the exercise of public authority, and it is understood that as one of an individual's freedoms to lead a private life, every individual has the freedom not to have information concerning such individual disclosed or published to third parties without due cause (2007(O)403, 2007(Ju)454, judgment of the First Petty Bench of the Supreme Court of March 6, 2008, Minshu, Vol. 62, No. 3, at 665). 2. (1) Then, in examining whether an act of an Administrative Organs, etc. using and providing Specific Personal Information under the Number Use Act violates the above-mentioned freedom of the appellants, as stated in I-2 (1) above, the purpose of said Act is to improve the efficiency of administrative management, ensure the fairness of benefits and burdens, and improve convenience of citizens, by making use of the subject identification function of Individual Numbers, etc. to realize more efficient management and use of information, and speed up data linkage, etc., and therefore, it is considered that said Act has a justifiable administrative purpose. (2) As stated in I-2 (2) (b) above, the Number Use Act limits the range of use of Individual Numbers to the processes stipulated by laws and regulations and ordinances in fields of the social security taxation, disaster countermeasures, and similar fields, thereby limiting the personal information to be retrieved and managed by the Individual Numbers. At the same time, the Act stipulates more strictly than the General Acts the exceptional circumstances under which the Other Purpose Use of personal information are permissible. Furthermore, as described in I-2 (3) and (5) (b) above, the Number Use Act prohibits the provision of Specific Personal Information in principle and permits the provision of such information only in cases falling under the limitedly enumerated exceptional circumstances, prohibits requests to provide Individual Numbers to others and the collection or keeping of Specific Personal Information except in cases falling under the above exceptional circumstances, and prohibits the creation of Specific Personal Information Files beyond the extent necessary. According to the above, it can be said that the use, provision, etc. of Specific Personal Information under the Number Use Act is conducted within the extent of the legitimate administrative purposes mentioned above. With respect to Article 19, items (xiv) and (xvi) of the Number Use Act delegating some provisions of the exceptional circumstances under which the above prohibition of the provision of Specific Personal Information is lifted to Cabinet Orders or the rules of the Specific Personal Information Protection Commission, it is difficult to stipulate all cases in said Act where the provision of Specific Personal Information should be permitted, and therefore, it is considered reasonably necessary to delegate some of them to Cabinet Orders or said rules. Since item (xiv) of said Article, after listing specific cases such as when each House of the Diet implements examinations or investigations in accordance with Article 104, paragraph (1) of the Diet Act, stipulates "or in any other case where it is necessary for the public interest as specified by Cabinet Order," it is understood that the above is delegated to the Cabinet Order only when examinations, investigations, etc. are implemented pursuant to the provisions of laws and regulations, and there is a need in the public interest equivalent to the specific cases mentioned above, and therefore, it is not considered to be a carte blanche delegation. In addition, the contents of Article 25 of the Enforcement Order for the Number Use Act and the items of the Appended Table, which are stipulated in response to this delegation, are not considered to exceed the extent of the delegation mentioned above. Further, Article 19, item (xvi) of said Act also delegates only, to the rules of the Specific Personal Information Protection Commission, substantially defined cases equivalent to items (i) through (xv) of said Article which are specific and detailed provisions, which does not constitute a carte blanche delegation. The contents of said rules which are stipulated in response to this delegation are not considered to exceed the extent of the delegation mentioned above. 3. However, since Specific Personal Information includes a large amount of highly confidential information, such as personal income and history of social security benefits, and it is theoretically possible to aggregate and match such information and analyze individuals by using an Individual Number that has a subject identification function, it may be possible, depending on the specific legal system and the actual system used, for such information to be leaked outside the organization one by one, or for specific risks to arise where Specific Personal Information is disclosed or made public to a third party without being based on laws and regulations etc. or beyond the extent of legitimate administrative purposes through unjustified data matching, i.e., an Administrative Organ, etc. receives multiple pieces of specified personal information pertaining to a specific individual from another Administrative Organ, etc. and matches them together, beyond the extent permitted under the Number Use Act. However, in addition to strictly regulating the use of Individual Numbers and the provision of Specific Personal Information as described in I-2 (2) (b) and (3) above, the Number Use Act provides for various regulations for the management of Specific Personal Information to prevent leaks of Specific Personal Information and to manage Specific Personal Information safely and properly, as described in I-2 (5) and (6) above. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the above regulations, malicious acts in violation of the above regulations are subject to penalties, and the statutory penalties are heavier than the same penalties under the General Acts, and the Commission, an independent third-party organization, is given various powers to monitor and supervise the handling of Specific Personal Information. In addition, even under the Number Use Act, Personal Information is not managed centrally in a common database, etc., and the situation remains the same in which each Administrative Organ, etc., manages Personal Information in a decentralized manner. As described in I-2 (4) above, when information is linked between Administrative Organs, etc. through the Information Providing Network System, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications is required to confirm the fulfillment of the requirements prescribed in Article 21, paragraph (2) of said Act, and records related to information exchange, etc. are stored for a certain period of time, and the Person may request the disclosure, etc. of such records. Not only that, but in the case mentioned above, due to the system's technology, Specific Personal Information is provided and received within a closed network exclusively for administrative use, which is separate from the Internet, using an individual identification code for the provision of information from which an Individual Number cannot be inferred and which is different for each agency. Furthermore, the communication through said network is encrypted and the Specific Personal Information itself provided is also encrypted. According to the above, it is considered that the risk of leakage or Other Purpose Use of Specific Personal Information in the above system is extremely low. Furthermore, since an Individual Number itself is a meaningless number, and an Individual Number is not used as a code to identify a specific individual in the Information Providing Network System, even if an Individual Number is leaked, there is no immediate risk that personal information decentralized and managed by each Administrative Organs, etc. will be leaked outside the organization, and as stated in I-2 (2) (a) above, if an Individual Number is likely to be leaked and used without authorization, it will be changed at the request of the Person or ex officio. Taking these various points together, it cannot be said that there are legal or systemic technical deficiencies in the use, provision, etc. of Specific Personal Information under the Number Use Act, which results in creating a specific risk that Specific Personal Information will be disclosed or published to third parties without being based on laws and regulations, etc. or beyond the extent of legitimate administrative purposes. 4. In this case, the acts of Administrative Organs, etc. using, providing, etc. Specific Personal Information based on the Number Use Act cannot be regarded as the disclosure or publication to third parties of information concerning individuals without due cause. Therefore, it is reasonable to understand that the above acts do not violate the freedom of a person guaranteed by Article 13 of the Constitution not to have information concerning the person disclosed or published to a third party without due cause. In light of the above, it is considered that there is no reason for the appellants' claim that the appellees' acts of using and providing the appellants' Specific Personal Information under the Number Use Act illegally infringe upon the appellants' right to privacy. The above is clear in light of the purport of the judgment of the Grand Bench of this Court (1965(A)1187, and the judgment of the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court of December 24, 1969, Keishu Vol. 23, No. 12, at 1625). The appellants' arguments are not acceptable. III. Concerning other reasons for final appeal The appellants' argument of a violation of the Constitution lacks premise and does not fall under any of the grounds provided in Article 312, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Code of Civil Procedure. Accordingly, the Court unanimously decides as set forth in the main text of the judgment.

Justice MIYAMA Takuya Justice YAMAGUCHI Atsushi Justice YASUNAMI Ryosuke Justice OKA Masaaki Justice SAKAI Toru