New ID System Reports First Data Leak
JAPAN
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Japan’s new nationwide identification system reported its first data leak just two days after it was launched amid fear that it would be prone to breaches of privacy.
Personal information--such as identification numbers, gender information and birth dates--from as many as 2,584 individuals was sent to the wrong people, said Kaoru Okuhira, a spokesman for the Osaka regional government.
The system aims to streamline Japan’s cumbersome, paper-heavy bureaucracy by linking local resident registries in a nationwide computer network. People will also receive 11-digit identification numbers.
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