Article 21Notification of a Purpose of Use when Acquiring Personal Information
第二十一条（取得に際しての利用目的の通知等）
Unless the purpose of use has already been disclosed to the public, a business handling personal information must promptly notify the identifiable person of that purpose of use or disclose this to the public once it has acquired personal information.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, a business handling personal information must explicitly specify the purpose of use to the identifiable person, before acquiring their personal information which appears in a written agreement or other document (this includes an electronic or magnetic record; hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph) as a result of concluding an agreement with that person; or acquiring their personal information which appears in a document, directly from the person in question; provided, however, that this does not apply if there is an urgent necessity to dispense with this requirement in order to protect the life, wellbeing, or property of an individual.
If a business handling personal information alters the purpose of use, it must notify identifiable persons of the altered purpose of use or disclose this to the public.
The provisions of the preceding three paragraphs do not apply in the following cases:
前三項の規定は、次に掲げる場合については、適用しない。
notifying the identifiable person of the purpose of use or disclosing this to the public is likely to harm the life, wellbeing, property, or other rights or interests of the identifiable person or a third party;
notifying the identifiable person of the purpose of use or disclosing this to the public is likely to harm the rights or legitimate interests of the business handling personal information;
it is necessary for the business to cooperate with a national government organ or a local government in performing the functions prescribed by laws and regulations, and notifying the identifiable person of the purpose of use or disclosing this to the public is likely to interfere with the performance of those functions;
the purpose of use is considered to be clear, in light of the circumstances in which the personal information is acquired.
取得の状況からみて利用目的が明らかであると認められる場合