There is an argument that in order to make government more efficient, it would be better to quickly distribute national ID numbers using the Resident Registration Network.
Certainly, if it can be distributed safely, accurately, without omissions, duplications, and in a cost-effective manner, then it would be a good idea to distribute it, but when you actually try to do it, it's not that easy.
"Haraguchi's Five Principles and OpenID"As I wrote in "Principle 1" above, there are two challenges to be overcome when casting.
Issue 1: Accuracy Issue
The first issue is the accuracy of the Resident Registration Network database.
The Resident Registration Network is entered by each city, town, and village. No matter how accurately the information is entered, it is done by humans, so mistakes are bound to occur. The first issue is what level the network is being operated at.
Even if the data entry operation were perfect, what about creating the data to enter, i.e. the procedures for moving in and out?
I searched online and found that the documents required for moving in and out are:
Obtaining a moving-out certificate
- seal
- Photo ID such as driver's license, passport, or disability certificate
- New address
Notification of moving in
- Moving-out certificate (issued by the city or town where you lived before)
- Documents that can verify your identity (driver's license, passport, etc.)
(It seems like there are some places that want more though...)
How do they check these things at the counter?
How do we know these aren't fakes?
In Japan, where there are no identity verification standards like those in New Zealand, one has to say that this verification process is quite poor.
By the way, I would like to point out that until September 19, in order to obtain a driver's license, you only needed to submit a certificate of residence, and no identification documents were required. In other words, the current situation in which a driver's license is used for identity verification... there is no need to write about it.
In addition, the identification documents required to obtain a driver's license are still as follows:
- Health insurance card
- Basic Resident Registration Card
- Passport (passport)
- Licenses and qualification certificates (issued by government agencies in accordance with legal regulations)
- Student ID, employee ID (we may need to call your school or company to confirm your identity)
(Source: http://www.pref.kagawa.jp/police/menkyo/shiken/shiken.htm)
This is what is supposed to happen... Even if they say that identity verification has been completed...
Issue 2: Distribution Issues
OK.
Let's ignore these things and assume that the procedures up to this point have been perfect.
In other words, let's say that the Resident Registration Network database is perfect, with no omissions, duplications, or lies.
If so, it's easy to assign a number to it, or rather, it's already assigned as a database key. But distributing it is not easy, because you have to link the database entry with a real, living person. (This is called an identification or registration procedure, by the way.) How do you do this? It requires identity verification, without any identification standards?
This is the second problem.
In the end, Japan has not yet taken the first step of identity verification, so it must start from there. Furthermore, to carry out strict identity verification, we must be prepared for considerable costs, and it is unclear whether it can be carried out in the short term in the first place. Looking at the real world, rather than carrying out general-purpose identity verification, it will likely be necessary to define identity verification procedures at the level required for each business. This is closely related to the positioning of national ID.
Addressing the challenges
Well, there's no point in just saying how difficult it is, so let's think about what we can do under the given conditions.
First, identity verification standards (manuals) must be created.
This is done for each level of identity verification.
Each type of business has its own level of damage that can be caused when identity fraud occurs. For example, when reserving a campsite in a national park, it's not a big deal if the reservation is made under someone else's name. The same goes for paying taxes. I don't really think there's anyone out there who would be so kind as to pay taxes under my name, but if there was, I'd be happy to do it, and it's not a big deal for the country, as it would have collected the taxes it should have collected. It's a victimless crime. (By the way, going along with this, it's unclear why Japan requires official personal authentication for e-tax. Looking at examples from other countries, it's rare for a digital signature to be required for declarations.)
Tax refunds, on the other hand, require a bit more identification. I would be sad if someone else received it for me. But even then, it would only be a tiny amount.
On the other hand, procedures such as issuing passports must be carried out strictly.
This is a document that is used internationally as a certificate of identity, so it has a big impact. For example, let's say that a foreign terrorist is mistakenly issued a Japanese passport, which allows him to slip through a checkpoint and carry out a large-scale terrorist attack. Japan would be essentially aiding the terrorist attack. In the worst case scenario, it could even spark a war. Therefore, issuing passports can be said to be a high-risk business.
Globally, there is a trend towards classifying the risk level of such work into four levels.
Level 1 is a low-risk task, and level 4 is a high-risk task. In the above example, filing tax returns and paying taxes would be level 1, refunds would be level 2, and obtaining a passport would be level 4. Naturally, even in terms of the manual, level 4 requires more complicated and costly procedures than level 1.
Not all citizens will obtain a passport, so level 4 identity verification is not necessary. Haraguchi's principle 4, "A reliable and efficient system with minimal costs," dictates that when issuing and distributing national IDs, identity verification should be limited to an appropriate level depending on the work that the person will be performing. And for "numbers" distributed for limited purposes with limited verification levels, it is necessary to provide additional information about what level of identity verification the number passed. In other words, it is not a big bang model, but an incremental model that starts from where it is needed.
Use of private IDs and the role of the government
Another question that needs to be considered is whether to use a government-issued ID or one already in use by the private sector. From the perspective of efficiency and convenience, the latter is better, as the Obama administration did, because they are already being distributed and are used daily.
To begin with, what is difficult for the purely private sector is to check whether or not duplicate IDs have been issued by different businesses. In other words, confirming existence and uniqueness is difficult. I think it would be more realistic for the government to first confirm existence and uniqueness (which requires identity verification standards and manuals, as well as a thorough review of the database; the latter in particular takes time and money), define the requirements and framework for each business to connect to the government via a private ID, and then consider using private IDs as IDs for citizens. [*1]
Other issues
Incidentally, the issues discussed so far are only those related to registration and distribution. Once distributed, they will be used, but there are various institutional and technical considerations regarding their use, and there are also various points of contention regarding the properties that the "number (identifier)" should have. It is not enough to simply assign numbers.
I plan to discuss these on another occasion.
[*1] Incidentally, when it comes to connecting to the government, it is not possible to target only Japanese people, so a "national ID" would be problematic. What's more, it would become necessary to allow access to foreigners abroad as well. This is one of the reasons why the US government has begun to accept private IDs (OpenID, SAML, Infocard) that meet certain standards. (Added 2010-03-22T20:04-09:00)