Glitches in Japan’s unpopular MyNumber digital ID cards draw a flood of complaints
TOKYO (AP) — The minister charged with an overhaul of Japan’s digitized system to assign a number to everyone living in the country has apologized, as doctors protested glitches with health insurance and local governments begged Thursday for clarity on how to handle the problems.
The MyNumber, or “MaiNa” for short, the system has clearly gone afoul.
The government has ordered a total rechecking of MyNumber data, one by one, “mechanically,” as the digital agency put it. The goal is to complete it by the fall, which could be anytime from September to November.
Local governments have to deal with much of the checking work. Officials have met with Digital Minister Taro Kono demanding help. Costs for the review have not been announced, but are expected to total trillions of yen (tens of billions of dollars).
Under MyNumber, launched in 2016, people get a card with a photo and embedded