Japanese protest national ID network.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

The Japanese government worked for three years to produce a national computerized registry of its citizens on time, but it took only hours for those citizens to demonstrate their disdain for the new system.

Under the computerized program, dubbed "Juki Net," all 127 million Japanese citizens have been assigned a unique 11-digit number, which allows the easy retrieval of basic information such as name, address, gender, and birth date. The information, which is already in government files, is only available to government employees for official use, and is not on the Internet. Much like the U.S. Social Security number system, Juki Net was intended to make it easier for citizens and officials to obtain documents for public services and benefits. The new system aims to streamline the nation's cumbersome, paper-heavy bureaucracy by linking local resident registries across a nationwide computer network.

But many citizens fear the state's control of their personal information, government surveillance, and the erosion of privacy. According to a survey of almost 2,000 Japanese citizens by newspaper Asahi Shimbun, 86 percent said they were concerned about misuse or leakage of information. At least five...