The mayor of Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, has asked the central government to postpone the scheduled start Monday of a nationwide computerized resident registry network, citing concerns over insufficient privacy protections, city officials said Sunday.
Mayor Tadao Kokubo, in the written request submitted to home affairs minister Toranosuke Katayama, said operation of the network "should in principle be delayed since there would likely be problems if it is run without legal arrangements for the protection of private information."
The mayor is also calling for the early enactment of a law to protect private information and other security measures to protect the lives of citizens, according to the officials. A bill to protect private information was submitted to the ordinary Diet session, but was not voted on due to a lack of time. The session closed on July 31.
The city of Koga is planning to take part in the network as scheduled, but the mayor said the city could disconnect from it if private information is leaked or is feared to be leaked after the start of operation, the officials said.