Japanese drop out in droves from new ID system

TOKYO -- Ever since their computerized ID system began a few days ago, Japanese citizens have dropped out in droves from what many resent as a "big brother" monitoring of the people.

The dozens of protest groups that have popped up are planning a rally Monday at which demonstrators will show their outrage by ripping up the papers being sent out by the government to assign every citizen an 11-digit number.

"To start with, giving a number to people is a violation of our individual human rights," said Eiji Yoshimura, one of the protesters. "We have absolutely nothing to gain from this system."

Several local governments have refused to participate in the system, which began last Monday. Yokohama, a Tokyo suburb of 3.4 million people, is giving its residents a choice of hooking up or not.

Privacy worries

The government is assigning each of Japan's 126 million citizens an ID number that will link into a nationwide computer system. The idea is to streamline Japan's cumbersome bureaucracy by making it easy to obtain basic personal information during administrative procedures.

Critics worry about loss of privacy, and some fear government officials will misuse the information.

The disenchantment some Japanese express toward the registry underlines a deep, although often hidden, distrust of government that is surprisingly common in a nation known for orderly, conformist behavior.

"I don't especially enjoy being called by a number. It feels like a prisoner," said Yasuyoshi Ban, a 60-year-old truck driver.

One worry is the computer system will be vulnerable to computer hackers. A bigger fear is the potential for abuse by someone inside the government using the stored personal information for harassing dissidents. Some people worry about identity theft.

Computer chip identities

The national government spent years preparing Juki Net, which is shorthand for "residents' network" in Japanese.

For now, only a person's name, address, gender and date of birth are stored under their ID number. Next August, people will receive a card embedded with a computer chip, allowing instant identification.

Supporters promise the card will make it easier in the future to get passports and social security benefits.

So far, there is only one tiny benefit -- it allows people to obtain proof of residence papers from any government office in the country. Such documents, which are essential for such matters as opening bank accounts, now can be picked up only at a person's neighborhood office.

Juki Net, which costs $157 million a year to run, has been hit with glitches in the early going, but central government officials shrugged them off as growing pains.

"Everything is progressing smoothly," said Naoki Nagumo, an official at the Public Management Ministry. "It's the first time we are trying this system out."

Skeptics aren't convinced.

The government had promised to have legislation protecting privacy and outlawing the abuse of personal information when Juki Net went into operation. But the law has yet to pass Parliament.

One protest Web site offers a download of a figure peering desperately out of a bar-code prison with the slogan "Ten digits for cows; 11 digits for people." It's a sarcastic reference to a state ID program for beef herds that began after mad-cow disease was found last fall.