Article 51 (Subjects of Collective Action, etc.)

A collective may file a lawsuit seeking prohibition or cessation of acts infringing rights (hereinafter referred to as "collective action") in court, if a personal information processor refuses collective dispute resolution under Article 49 or does not accept the results of collective dispute resolution, in any of the following cases: 1. A consumer organization registered with the Fair Trade Commission pursuant to Article 29 of the 「Consumer Basic Act」, which meets all of the following requirements: a. It shall be an organization whose primary purpose, according to its articles of incorporation, is the promotion of the rights and interests of data subjects on a regular basis. b. The number of regular members of the organization shall be 1,000 or more. c. Three years shall have elapsed since registration under Article 29 of the 「Consumer Basic Act」. 2. A non-profit private organization under Article 2 of the 「Support for Non-profit Private Organizations Act」, which meets all of the following requirements: a. It shall have been requested to file a collective action by 100 or more data subjects who have suffered identical infringements in law or in fact. b. It shall have a record of activities for the protection of personal information for the past three years or more, with such protection explicitly stated as the purpose of the organization in its articles of incorporation. c. The number of regular members of the organization shall be 5,000 or more. d. It shall be registered with a central administrative agency.