It never gets old…
To recap, I am opposed to the My Number system in its current form for two reasons: I don’t believe the Japanese government is competent enough to handle the information securely, and it appears the government is also trying to expand this far beyond a simple tax/social security identifier. We’ve seen talk of using it to track shopping, for health care, for ATM use even.
​So far I have been asked to submit my personal identification number (‘My Number’) twice: to my employer and to Rakuten Securities. Both requests were pretty low-key. There was no deadline for either and both were phrased as requests to ‘please submit your information and sign this form giving us permission to administer your details’. My employer also asked for my wife and daughter’s numbers (they were my dependents for tax purposes last year although won’t be this year).
Of course I ignored both requests. My current thinking is that I will give My Number out when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers (or at least when they come up with some way of penalizing me for not submitting).
For Rakuten Securities, it seems that current account holders have some latitude here, but they are asking for people to submit the My Number information in order to open a new account. I get the feeling that failing to do so will result in the application being rejected. Anyone try this yet?
So there we have it. My Number use still relatively optional given the lack of penalties for both individuals and companies that don’t/won’t use it, although it will also depend on your relative position of strength with regards to the institution asking for it.
Of course I still hope that everyone will refuse to participate and thus bring the system down. This is what happened to the JukiNet system about ten years ago and I hope this new attempt will also go down the tubes (or at least be reformed and have some concrete limits defined in terms of how it will be used). Non-violent resistance FTW.
I called Shinsei earlier this week to transfer money from Japan to the US. They told me they could only proceed after I gave them “My Number”.
I replied that I did not have the “My Number” given that I left Japan before that thing even existed. They added a note on my account, proceeded with the transfer, and mentioned that the number will become compulsory in 3 years. I am not sure if that means I have to close my account (or get back to Japan and provide a “my number”) by then.
Ouch. So they are already trying to blackmail people into providing the information, even though it isn’t necessary until 3 years from now?
Disappointing. I wonder what other account functions they will make dependent on this? Seems like anything new is likely to trigger a request for My Number…
“My current thinking is that I will give My Number out when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers (or at least when they come up with some way of penalizing me for not submitting).”
My current thinking as well mate.
Glad to see there are at least two of us!
Three of us! Hell no, no one is getting My Number!
“have you receive your My Number Notice?” “no”, I work in the embassy and looks like not a member of the household. I said: “the embassy is an extention of a nation’s territory. Yet, the law says My Number apply to all foreigners staying for more than six (6) months, thus, the new law donot make a difference to the foreigner status of stay.
I was required to provide “my number” to send money to the US through the Jpn post office. They said they would not send funds unless I gave the number.
Hi Kate,
unfortunately that is one of the few examples where the company holds the power (another one is trying to open a new bank account). If you want to send money (or open the account) you have to provide the information.
We’ll see how this pans out over the next couple of years. I get the feeling most people will play along and My Number will become a reality here, but I haven’t given up hope yet 🙂