IT firm Fujitsu has suspended a system that uses My Number cards to issue residence certificates at local municipal offices and convenience stores after a resident was issued someone else¡¯s certificate.
The issue adds to growing public concerns over My Number identification cards after a spate of reports over leaks of private information in recent months.
Fujitsu said Thursday that the malfunction occurred the day before at a municipal office in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture.
The system is currently suspended in 123 municipalities while it undergoes an inspection. Fujitsu did not say when services would resume. Those needing a copy of their residential certificate will need to apply directly at a municipal office for the time being.
The error marks the second time Fujitsu¡¯s system has malfunctioned. In May, convenience store services issuing municipal certificates were found to have glitches, which also forced a suspension of services. The Fujitsu system had just resumed operation on June 18.
According to Fujitsu, the latest malfunction was the result of an unfixed glitch from before.
President Takahito Tokita offered an apology Tuesday at the company¡¯s annual shareholders¡¯ meeting regarding the issues that have emerged in recent weeks, stating that they have ¡°contributed to distrust of the My Number system.¡±
Beyond issues with the Fujitsu system, My Number cards have been linked to other errors in recent months.
In May, the health ministry reported that, between October 2021 and November 2022, there were 7,312 cases where someone else¡¯s personal information was tied to another individual¡¯s My Number card. The Digital Agency also stated that there were 11 cases in six municipalities in which a person¡¯s My Number ID was linked to a different person¡¯s bank account.
Due to malfunctions in a new scanning system for combined My Number and health insurance cards, cardholders were asked to pay 100% of the fees at the hospital despite having insurance coverage.
Amid these mounting problems, public opinion over issues related to My Number cards appears to be a primary cause of the plunging support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida¡¯s Cabinet.
According to a poll conducted by the Nippon News Network and Yomiuri Shimbun in June, approval of the Cabinet has dropped to 41%, down 15 percentage points from the previous month. And two-thirds of respondents said they didn¡¯t think the government was responding appropriately to My Number card issues.
On Friday, Kishida instructed digital minister Taro Kono and internal affairs minister Takeaki Matsumoto to compile an interim report on the issue by early August, rather than the initial plan for the end of August, according to Kyodo News.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.