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Protection of personal data at RIKEN BioResource Research center

Protection of personal data at RIKEN BioResource Research center

Personal data protection policy

RIKEN BioResource Research Center (BRC) aims to be a core center for biological resources necessary for life science. The RIKEN BRC is committed to establishing an “intellectual infrastructure” to meet the needs of both scientific community and society at large. As a global center for collecting, preserving and providing bioresources, the BRC strives to gain the respect and trust of researchers in Japan and abroad through the three principles of trust, sustainability and leadership.　

It is our social responsibility to handle properly the personal data of our clients acquired in the course of our work, and indeed it would be unthinkable to perform our duties without the trust of society. Therefore we will handle personal data with proper care and consideration, and in accordance with the following policy:

  1. The BRC will comply with the Law Concerning the Protection of Personal Information Held by Independent Administrative Institutions (which came into force on April 1, 2005), and the other relevant laws. RIKEN also has its own guideline on the protection of personal data.
  2. The BRC will take proper measures to prevent the leakage of personal data. This will include restricting access to and copying of data, control of storage media, and proper disposal of personal data.
  3. The BRC will never disclose personal data to a third party without the client’s agreement, unless it is required to by law.
  4. When BRC enters into contracts that commission work involving personal data to external agents, the contracts will guarantee secrecy and the protection of personal data.
  5. The BRC will specify the intended purposes of the use of the personal data that it holds, and will only use this personal data for the specified purposes. It will not hold personal data that is not necessary for the specified purposes.
  6. The BRC will normally only acquire personal data directly from clients. When it acquires personal data using a document, it will inform the clients of the specific purposes of its intended use as clearly as possible.
  7. The BRC will endeavor to maintain the accuracy of the personal data that it holds.
  8. The BRC will establish a system for protecting personal data, and will educate its staff on the importance of treating personal data properly.

RIKEN BioResource Research Center will only acquire personal data by proper means in the course of its activities as described in (I) below. It will only use this personal data for the purposes described in (II), unless a prior agreement is obtained from the client to the contrary or it is required to do otherwise by law.

  1. ACTIVITIES OF THE BRC
    1. Resources
      The BRC contributes to the progress of life science by collecting, preserving and providing experimental animals and plants, cultured cell lines, genetic materials (DNA), microorganisms and associated bioinformatics (hereafter “resources”).
    2. Technology
      The BRC develops new resources in response to scientists’ needs, and new technologies to increase the value of the resources and the efficiency of the preservation, quality control and usage of the resources.
    3. Training and collaboration
      In order to promote the effective use of resources, the BRC gives training courses on the latest technologies for their management and for the analysis of their characteristics. It also collaborates with other institutions in Japan and abroad.
  2. INTENDED USES OF PERSONAL DATA
    1. Communicating with developers, depositors and users; publishing the resource website and catalog; sending the catalog; necessary processes for collecting, preserving and providing resources
    2. Announcing seminars, symposia, training courses, etc.
    3. Sending e-mail news
    4. Responding to inquiries from users
    5. Complying with laws and contracts
    6. Other necessary activities

Public release of personal data via our website and catalog

As described in “Intended uses of personal data”, in order to facilitate use of resources, we may publish some or all of the following information about the resource’s developer or depositor on our website and in our catalog:

  1. name;
  2. employer (and division);
  3. work address;
  4. work fax no.;
  5. work e-mail address;

We will always check this information before publishing or updating it on our website and in our catalog. Upon the request by a client for correction of a mistake, we will rectify the information as soon as possible.

Contact

Inquiries about personal data and administrative procedures for its disclosure
Contact: Information disclosure desk, General Affairs Division,
RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198
Tel. +81-48-462-1111 (switchboard), +81-48-467-9221(direct)
URL：https://www.riken.jp/en/privacy/