Japan Govt Inspects Digital Agency over My Number Mess

Jiji Press

17:50 JST, July 20, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Personal Information Protection Commission on Wednesday conducted an on-site inspection of the Digital Agency over a series of problems involving My Number personal identification numbers.

The probe by the government commission focuses on cases in which My Number identification numbers were wrongly linked with the bank accounts of other people.

So far, the commission has pointed out the agency’s failure to control risks and ensure that local governments handle My Number-related devices properly.

Based on the investigation, the commission may issue administrative guidance to the agency, people familiar with the matter said.

The work to link My Number identification numbers with bank accounts for receiving public benefits is carried out using the agency’s system.

The linkage mistakes occurred mainly because people who used devices at local government offices in their registration procedures failed to log out before others began using them.

By early July, 940 such cases were confirmed, but the agency believes there are about 140,000 more wrong linkage cases for which details of the cause remain unidentified.