Regarding the article headlined “Violence victims fear My Number” in the Oct. 17 edition, the government claims that the usage of My Number is definitely going to benefit the country, such as better organized social security.
However I, as a person living in Japan, do not want to risk my private personal information to just 11 digits.
As reported in this article, the system of My Number will provide support to people in their daily life at the same time that it risks people’s privacy. It can even put women’s lives in danger if they are trying to escape from domestic violence. No matter how much support it provides to the citizens, if My Number is causing fear and danger to the citizens, it should not be allowed.
Women running from domestic violence is just one example. My Number will contain information on income and property, too. If this information somehow became public by mistake, it can be an infringement of personal privacy and the government might lose the trust of the people.
Unlike some of the other countries that have a similar system, such as Sweden, Japan is not a country where everybody shares their personal informations to the public.
To protect the privacy of the people, the government should rethink the whole My Number system.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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