Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida responds to a question from Ryuichi Yoneyama of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at a Lower House Committee on Audit and Oversight of Administration on June 12. (Koichi Ueda)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologized for the problems plaguing the Individual Number Card, also known as My Number Card, including the linking of the card with another person’s health insurance information.

“I take the current cases of error very seriously and sincerely apologize for causing concerns to the public,” Kishida said at a Lower House Committee on Audit and Oversight of Administration on June 12.

Responding to a question from Ryuichi Yoneyama of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Kishida addressed cases where a malfunctioning ID card has resulted in medical institutions being unable to verify the identity of patients eligible for health insurance.

That led to some patients having to pay the full amount of medical expenses up-front out of their own pockets, he said.

“The public must not be subjected to bear unnecessary burdens, such as shouldering the entire medical expenses,” Kishida said.

He said the government is currently coordinating specific measures with medical institutions.

Human error during the data-input process by the health insurance association and others resulted in improper linking of My Number Card with health insurance data, which led some individuals to inadvertently access such information of strangers.

According to the health ministry, 7,312 cases of improper linking were confirmed between October 2021 and November 2022.

Among these, there were five cases in which the medical histories, medical expenses and medication information were accessed by strangers.

Human error has also left pension records exposed through the government’s My Number online portal site for holders of the ID cards.

The telecommunications ministry and the Digital Agency admitted at a news conference on June 12 that they had confirmed one case where an individual viewed someone else’s pension information through the site.

According to the ministry, mistakes in data input occurred at one mutual aid association for local government officials, which is under the jurisdiction of the ministry.

When the pension data for a former association member had been inputted manually into the portal system, it was mistakenly linked to someone else’s data, the ministry said.

Therefore, an individual other than the former member inadvertently viewed the information.

The person reported the case to the Digital Agency on June 7 and the problem came to light.

The agency took measures on June 9 to prevent accessing another person’s pension data.

Government officials initially suggested that there could be about 170 cases in which pension records might have been accessed by strangers.

But the ministry said at the news conference that it confirmed “one (such) case at the moment.”

It also said that it did not know the exact number of cases in which pension records were available for access.

Kishida said that the ministry and the agency are currently checking the detailed facts.

“I have been told that it will not affect the amount of pension benefits received,” he said.

Asked if disciplinary measures would be taken against Taro Kono, minister for digital transformation, at the committee, Kishida denied the possibility of dismissing Kono.

“I would like him to fulfill his responsibilities to ensure the public’s trust in the My Number Card and promote digital government,” he said.

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