The mayor of Suginami Ward, Tokyo, announced Thursday his ward will not join a controversial nationwide registry network of citizens.
"We will not join it because there is no law to protect privacy," Mayor Hiroshi Yamada said at a news conference at the ward office. "We cannot allay public concerns about data leaks at this point."
The ward began surveying residents about the system on July 10, and as of July 19 more than 70 percent of the 751 respondents said it should be suspended or delayed, ward officials said.