Commission overturns home-care records denial

The commission said it had overturned a decision to withhold the end times of a care worker's home-visit services from a long-term-care recipient, finding the records should be disclosed.

The respondent released the long-term-care benefit plan but refused to provide the service end times. It argued that tag data could reveal the care worker's location and qualified as personal and location information that could not be disclosed. The recipient contested the refusal, saying the data concerned when a worker's service ended.

The commission found that start and end times are confirmed when a smartphone is held against a tag installed at the recipient's home. Long-term-care institutions must create, maintain and provide service records to recipients, and electronically sent home-visit records must be provided at least once a month.

The service records for home visits list the daily start and end times and are signed by the care worker and the recipient or guardian. The commission said there was no basis to regard the requested end-time information as the worker's personal or location information subject to the disclosure exemptions.

The recipient filed the information request on June 19, 2025, and the respondent issued its refusal on July 16. The commission made its decision on Feb. 24 in case No. 2025-15824.