It has become a hot topic that Akemi Saito (49), who was hiding former Aum Shinrikyo member Hirata, obtained a health insurance card under a false name and even used it as identification to open a bank account [1]. In response to this, various opinions have appeared on my Twitter timeline. Many of them, like the reports, are concerned that an identification card could be made under a false name, but on the other hand, there are also voices saying that this is not the case. So, I would like to take a moment to organize the information.
The issue at issue this time is that Saito obtained a health insurance card under the name "Yoshikawa Sachiko," a name she did not use when working at an osteopathic clinic in Osaka, and used this to open a bank account, etc.
According to reports, this health insurance card was first issued in August 2000[8], which means that at the time it was issued as a government-managed health insurance card.
Insurance card issuing process
So how are insurance certificates issued?
National Health Insurance Association (Kenko Hoken)SiteWhen you go toJapan Pension Service websiteAccording to this, the employer who employs the insured person:[Acquisition/loss of insured status, notification of dependent status]In fact, in an article [1], the Public Relations Office of the Japan Pension Service explains it as follows:
"Applications are made by submitting a 'Qualification Acquisition Notification.' At this time, there is no need to attach a certificate of residence or a copy of your family register. The premise of the system is that the employer completes identity verification before submitting the application. There are penalties for false applications (imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of up to 500,000 yen)."
[Acquisition/loss of insured status, notification of dependent status]Looking at the document, in addition to name, gender, etc., a basic pension number (since 1997) is required in principle, but was this not necessary at the time? Well, judging from the disappearance of pensions, it can be inferred that the management of this area was sloppy (if it did not exist, a new one would be assigned, etc.). At that time, the Resident Registration Network had not yet been launched, and of course there was no matching with the Basic Resident Register. It can be said that the system was based on the premise that identity verification was carried out at the stage of submitting the application. However, in reality, identity verification was often not carried out in small and medium-sized enterprises [3].
As long as you use your insurance card as insurance, there is no problem.
So what's wrong with this?
First, consider the insurance card as a means of eligibility and identification within the health insurance system.
In order to be issued a health insurance card, you need to have worked for that company, so the connection between the "identity" created in this way and the body is quite strong [4]. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain two cards at the same time. If you work night and night, you can be employed at two places and obtain two cards, but since insurance benefits can only be received once for your body, it would be a waste to pay the insurance premiums, so it is meaningless. From the perspective of the original purpose of health insurance, which is that everyone pays insurance premiums and those who get sick receive benefits from the pooled money, this is sufficient. There is no need to use your legal name when receiving treatment at a hospital.
The ones at fault are those who use health insurance cards for purposes other than their intended purpose, such as "general identity verification."
Next, we will consider the use of health insurance cards as a means of identity verification outside of the health insurance system, for example, to prevent money laundering (Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds).
There are various methods of money laundering, but let's consider a very simple method here. A person named "Minoru Tanaka" who is under the watchful eye of the authorities opens an account under the name of another person, "Shigeru Suzuki," and has secret funds deposited into the account. This can be achieved by obtaining an insurance card in the name of "Shigeru Suzuki" using the above method. The same thing happens even if the insurance card has a photo on it.
In other words, health insurance cards cannot essentially be used for identity verification outside the health insurance system. However, this is not the intended use in the first place,It is the fault of the party verifying the identity of the person who used the card in a way that was not intended by the issuer.The identity verification documents that can be used under the Criminal Proceeds Transfer Prevention Act must be documents that can be used for name matching within the scope of the Criminal Proceeds Transfer Prevention Act. Insurance cards are not.
In the first place, is it only possible to work under your legal name?
"No, that's not the case. It would have been fine if the health insurance cards had been issued in the actual names of the people who received them." Many people also criticize the Social Insurance Agency for its poor administrative work at the time.
Is that really true?
There are a certain number of people who are potential crime victims (for example, those being chased by abusive husbands). They are in the position of being chased. However, the police generally do not take up the case until they actually become victims. From the victim's perspective, it is too late for the police to take up the case after they are killed. The only way to protect oneself is to run away. For this reason, some people live and work as waitresses in hot spring inns deep in the mountains under false names and raise their children. It seems that the social insurance office at the time issued insurance cards to such people, knowing that they were under false names, and tolerated them. If you force them to use their legal name, it will be leaked from their workplace. Isn't this a good story full of humanity? Or rather, I think this is "justice". Which is better: applying regulations in a rigid manner, forcing people to use their legal name, and giving birth to crime victims? A world in which you can only work under your legal name is too restrictive and inhumane.
In fact, in Germany, the use of pseudonyms is permitted, and in the United States, a real name is the name that the person normally uses. As long as the intention is not to deceive the other party and cause harm, it is okay to use any name.
Even "Pablo Picasso"'s real name was "Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Blasco Picasso y López", but he himself didn't remember it.(citation needed)So "Pablo Picasso" is probably his real name. Generally speaking, the combination of a family name and a given name as a "real name (legal name)" is not common around the world. Japanese "real names" are simple, but that is not the case all over the world.
First of all, what is identity verification?
The opinions that identity verification should always be done by family legal name or that it should be absolutely certain come from a fundamental lack of understanding of the meaning of "identity verification." What is "identity verification"?
Refer to the definition in ITU-T X.1254 | ISO/IEC DIS 29115 [5].
3.14 Identity Proofing
Process by which the Registration Authority (RA) captures and verifies sufficient information to identify an entity to a specified or understood level of assurance.
In other words, when verifying your identity,For what purpose and with what degree of certaintyYou need to decide in advance whether you want to do this and then gather and confirm various information in order to do so. There is no such thing as absolute identity verification. If you are using the insurance card as an insurance card, the current process is sufficient, as described above. What's more, the fine for making a false application is 50 yen, so we can see that the government is expecting losses of around 50 yen at most. If you want to use it for other purposes and want it to be done more properly, then the "people who use it for other purposes" should bear the costs. Otherwise, it's unreasonable.
Furthermore, if we were to "always verify identity by legal name," various fundamental human rights issues would arise, such as the danger to life and body, privacy issues, and freedom of speech issues, as mentioned above. What on earth do people who say this intend to do about these issues?
Furthermore, in today's Japan, the term "identity verification" is used in a variety of different ways.
- "Identity verification" when first creating an "account" linked to that "person"
- "Identity verification" to link a "body" to an already existing "account"
- "Identity Verification" to confirm access rights to your "Account"
- "Identity verification" to create a "certificate" that can be used by other people to "verify their identity"
Etc. In order to have a proper discussion, we must organize and use these properly. Well, Japan is not the only country where things are so messy, but I hope that everyone who reads this article will try to distinguish between these things and think about them clearly. You will be able to see many things.
[1] A health insurance card for a beautiful former follower stirs controversy! It was made under a false name, Zakzak, 2012/1/16 and many more.
[2] Nikkei Newspaper Web Published 2012/1/13 In addition, the copy of the health insurance card posted also shows the date of qualification as August 12, 8.
[3] When Saito applied for his health insurance card, the osteopathic clinic where he worked did not verify his identity with a resident card or driver's license. "If you change jobs, a large company's health insurance association will always require you to submit a 'certificate of loss of eligibility' when you leave your previous association. However, if the employer is a small or medium-sized company, this step is often omitted," according to a social insurance labor consultant, suggesting there was a problem at the application stage. (Source [1] A health insurance card for a beautiful former follower stirs controversy! It was made under a false name）
[4] To be frank, this is much stronger than the connection between a resident's card and a person's physical body. In fact, there is essentially nothing that directly connects a resident's card to a person's physical body.
[5] Actually, ISO 24760-1 would be better, but it would be too long, so I'll go with 29115. I plan to write about 24760-1 in a separate article.