(image from Plus Stationary)
It was only 2005 when personal information protection act came into full action in Japan. And although people are concerned of their privacy, I find that both the industry and the consumer are relaxed about exchanging the information. From massage salons to fashion boutiques, they ask you to write your home address, name, and occupation in return of point cards and after sales services.
But there is a moment when people get nervous: That is when all those printed matters are thrown away as rubbish. In most communities in Japan, you are supposed to throw away papers as recyclable materials by bundling them with packing strings so the content remains fairly intact. Second, unless you live in a modern apartment buildings, there is no dedicated community bins: you need to place your rubbish in a certified plastic bags or bind in a certain form and put it on the street on the very day the rubbish is collected.
As a result, a product like this is sold in Japan: Keshi-Pon, which means to stamp to erase, basically creates a dense textual pattern as you stamp it over your names and addresses on printed matters.
Whether the solution is perfect or not, I do not know. But certainly, it's a lot easier than cutting the paper into pieces.
Product Name: Keshipon
Manufactured by: Plus Stationary
Price: 980 yen
URL (in Japanese but with descriptive images and movie clips): http://bungu.plus.co.jp/sta/product/office/keshipon/
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