Photo/Illutration The Asahi Shimbun

Applicants for smartphone-based COVID-19 “vaccine passports” will have to present their My Number identification cards to confirm their identity, the Digital Agency said on Oct. 19, with no other forms of I.D. accepted.

Less than 40 percent of the population currently have My Number cards.

The agency in late September solicited opinions from private businesses, municipalities and medical institutions on how the digital version of vaccine passports, which are currently available only on paper, should be issued.

Some respondents asked the agency not to require applicants to present their My Number identification cards but to allow them to use other forms of identification, such as driver’s licenses.

But the agency decided to confirm applicants’ identity only by My Number cards to thoroughly implement strict identification procedures, it said.

The agency aims to begin issuing the digital version of vaccine passports in mid-December to those who received two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine.

A dedicated smartphone app will allow users to choose which information to be displayed on smartphone screens to protect their privacy.

The government expects smartphone-based vaccine passports to be used to show proof of full vaccination of customers at restaurants as well as spectators at live music and other events.

The agency adopted a suggestion from respondents that it should enable users to choose whether to display their names, dates of birth and other personal information on smartphone screens when presenting vaccine passports at restaurants or other places.

The agency will allow users of the smartphone app to hide QR codes and such personal information and show only the proof that they are fully inoculated.

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