Japan is moving forward with a plan to integrate My Number cards and health insurance cards for increased efficiency. However, concerns over data accuracy and privacy remain unresolved.

Japan’s Digital Agency has confirmed additional cases of incorrect linkage between My Numbers and bank accounts. Errors in the registration process caused the issue. The internal affairs ministry has urged users to log out properly to safeguard their personal information.

The Japanese government’s push for digitalization, spearheaded by Digital Minister Taro Kono, now includes scrapping health insurance cards and incorporating their data into My Number national identification cards by autumn 2024. Currently only half of all citizens have My Number cards, but under this new policy, they will become mandatory for all.

Japan’s municipalities began on Friday to send notices showing 12-digit identification numbers to all residents in the nation under a new number system for tax and social security purposes called “My Number”.