Japan Press Weekly

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2013 February 27 - March 5 [POLITICS]

Gov’t submits ID system bill

The government on March 1 submitted to the Diet a bill to issue identification numbers to all people living in Japan in order to have their personal information on file.

The bill will facilitate the collection of tax and insurance premiums with the intent to turn the nature of tax payments into something like a prerequisite for receiving welfare benefits. This will lead to more tax burdens and less public benefits in the end.

The bill, if passed, will risk information leakage causing vast damage to the whole nation as the government has to handle huge volumes of private information.

In the United States and South Korea where the similar system has already been introduced, ID theft and invasion of privacy are frequently occuring.

Related past articles:
> Gov’t attempting to introduce ID number system [July 30, 2012]
> Cabinet pushes citizen ID law [February 15, 2012]
> Security number system changes nature of social security from ‘rights’ to ‘reward’ [January 26, 2011]