• by Ray Schultz , January 21, 2019

Japan’s communications ministry will prohibit global information technology giants from using email content without consent, Japan Times reports.

The decision comes amid growing complaints that Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are using such data for marketing, it adds.

Japanese firms, being already governed by the restriction, are now at a disadvantage.

In addition, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission plans to probe the firms for possible violations of the anti-monopoly law, Japan Times continues.

The planned restriction will also cover other types of data.

The ministry will consider ways to enforce Japanese law on global tech companies, Japan Times continues.

This news occurs as global tech giants are under increasing pressure from Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

For example, MediaPost’s Wendy Davis reports today that the French National Data Protection Commission has fined Google roughly $57 million for failing to obtain consent before using consumer data to personalize ads.

That ruling grew out of complaints filed in May by privacy groups None Of Your Business (noyb) and LaQuadrature du Net.

Last week. nyob filed actions against Apple, Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, Spotiy and three other firms, alleging that they failed to provide access to personal data they were holding, in violation of the GDPR.