Japanese protest national ID network. (Up front: news, trends & analysis).The Japanese government worked for three years to produce a national computerized registry of its citizens on time, but it took only hours for those citizens to demonstrate their disdain for the new system. Under the computerized program, dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. "Juki Net," all 127 million Japanese citizens have been assigned a unique 11-digit number, which allows the easy retrieval of basic information such as name, address, gender, and birth date. The information, which is already in government files, is only available to government employees for official use, and is not on the Internet. Much like the U.S. Social Security number system, Juki Net was intended to make it easier for citizens and officials to obtain documents for public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. and benefits. The new system aims to streamline the nation's cumbersome cum·ber·some adj. 1. Difficult to handle because of weight or bulk. See Synonyms at heavy. 2. Troublesome or onerous. cum , paper-heavy bureaucracy by linking local resident registries across a nationwide computer network. But many citizens fear the state's control of their personal information, government surveillance, and the erosion of privacy. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a survey of almost 2,000 Japanese citizens by newspaper Asahi Shimbun The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞 Asahi Shinbun , 86 percent said they were concerned about misuse or leakage LEAKAGE. The waste which has taken place in liquids, by their escaping out of the casks or vessels in which they were kept. By the act of March 2, 1799, s. 59, 1 Story's L. U. S, 625, it is provided that there be an allowance of two per cent for leakage, on the quantity which shall appear of information. At least five Japanese municipalities have refused to be included in Juki Net, while others are offering their residents the choice not to participate. A group of academics presented the Home Affairs Ministry with a petition calling for the government to halt the program and filed a court case demanding it be scrapped as unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. . Protesters made signs comparing the database to Nazi treatment of Jewish people during World War II. To inflame matters further, the system suffered a breach just two days after it was launched, and personal information, including ID numbers, gender, and birthdates, from more than 2,500 residents was sent to the wrong people. Even before that leak, Japan's Defense Agency was found to have been secretly compiling private information on people who had requested documents under the country's freedom of information act. A possible data leak from military computers that may have divulged similar sensitive information was being investigated as well. |
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