The My Number national identification card system, already plagued with privacy concerns, suffered a further setback Tuesday after the government reported two cases in which ID cards were erroneously issued to people with the same names as the intended recipients.
Although the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said that the cards issued in error were not misused, the cases also highlighted the risk that My Number cards could be abused by individuals pretending to be someone else when applying for social security or state benefits, or when undertaking tax procedures.
Those who received the wrong cards were not aware they had been issued incorrectly and only used them to obtain shopping points, offered under the government's program to increase uptake. The government has been promoting the ID cards as the country's "highest-ranking identification card."