The Supreme Court earlier this month declared as constitutional the nationwide Juki Net residency registry network, ruling against residents who had filed four separate lawsuits. Citing the possible danger of information leakage and use of information for illegitimate purposes, residents from Osaka, Ishikawa, Aichi and Chiba prefectures had argued that the network, which links information contained in basic residency registries kept at local governments, infringes on their right to privacy. They had requested that their information be removed from the network.
Although the court said there is no concrete danger, it failed to mention the risk of registry information being accidently uploaded to the Internet by a worker. The ruling does not adequately address the fears and suspicions that people have about the network. The top court said registry-type information is usually disclosed in people's daily lives and should not be regarded as highly confidential. The registry carries a resident's name, date of birth, sex, address, registry code numbers and data related to moving residence.
Brushing aide plaintiffs' fears that the information could be used for illegitimate purposes, the ruling said there is no concrete danger because public servants who make illegitimate use of the information will be disciplined under criminal law, and because no single organization exists to centrally handle and manage the information. But the ruling cannot guarantee that public servants will not commit negligence or make mistakes.