Japan: Act on Promoting Competition Regarding Specific Software Used in Smartphones including interoperability requirement entered into force

On 18 December 2025, the Act on Promoting Competition Regarding Specific Software Used in Smartphones entered into force. The Act includes interoperability requirements for providers of specific software used in smartphones, including cloud computing services, search service providers, and app stores. The Act prohibits designated business operators, whose services are integral to smartphone usage, from engaging in practices that unfairly restrict competition or the entry of new entities into the market. Furthermore, the Act requires designated business operators to facilitate the transfer of data to users or their designated persons upon request, allow users to change standard and default settings, obtain user consent for additional software, and enable the removal of individual software.