Personal information relating to 8.63 million customers was stolen by a former employee of a firm contracted by Dai Nippon Printing Co in the largest information leak of its kind.

The data including credit card numbers, were provided to Dai Nippon by 43 companies, "including credit card issuers and insurance firms" and, "some of which have reportedly been used in fraudulent Internet transactions," says The Yomiuri Shimbun.

But, "The employee in question was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department and indicted on theft charges, in which damages amount to a mere 250--the cost of the magneto-optical (MO) disk he used for copying the information," says an OpEd, calling for a revisions in Japan's adding personal information protection law.

Penalties "do not apply against individuals, such as company employees, who steal information," says the post. "At the time of the law's enactment, observers pointed out this loophole."

An employee took an MO disk from the office supplies, "making it possible for the police to charge him with theft under the Penal Code," says The Yomiuri Shimbun.

"If the man had copied the data to his own disk, the police would have had difficulty bringing theft charges against him."

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