Japan’s Digital Minister Mulls Punitive Action Against Self Over ID card Issue

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:56 JST, June 10, 2023

Digital minister Taro Kono is mulling punitive action against himself over a series of recent mistakes and problems related to My Number identification cards.

“As [digital] minister, I bear responsibility for this matter,” Kono said at Friday meeting of the House of Councillors’ special committee on regional revitalization and formation of a digital society. “I must take some form of disciplinary action against myself.”

There have been about 130,000 cases in which bank accounts designated to receive public benefits were erroneously linked to My Number personal identification numbers belonging to family members of the person named on the account. Additionally, 748 cases have been confirmed in which people mistakenly registered bank accounts in the name of a different person.