Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC) on April 4 issued two administrative directions around the constitutionally guaranteed secrecy of communication (=Tsuushin no Himitsu, in Japanese) against Connect Free and NTT Broadband Platform.
Both companies tried to offer free WiFi services at shops last December but got in troubles by suspicious behaviors when users connect the free WiFi stations.
Direction for Connect Free [J] pointed that the service collected user client’s MAC address and some social media account IDs “without prior consent”. (Asiajin’s report)
The other one for NTT Broadband Platform [J] said that the company blocked access for specific websites from the free WiFi spots “without due reasons”. The document did not specify the service name but it is likely Seven Spot [J], free WiFi spots available on Seven Eleven, Ito Yokado, Seibu and Denny’s chain-stores, which was complained to block Amazon Japan and Rakuten websites at launch, probably because they are rival on shopping.
