The Abe administration has submitted a bill to the Diet to launch the "my number" system, under which each citizen and foreign resident would be issued an electronic chip-embedded ID card that includes the person's facial photograph. The government claims that the ID number system, which would be used for taxation and social security purposes, would enhance fairness in taxation and efficiency in the distribution of social welfare resources.
The government hopes to start using the ID system in January 2016, but the system has many problems and risks. The Diet should discuss whether it is really needed.
Currently individual government organizations separately store information on citizens related to taxation, pension, medical and nursing-care services, etc. Under the new system, individuals would be issued a number based on the resident register code and the various data would be integrated onto a single ID card.