During the Feb. 17 Lower House budget committee meeting, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Akira Nagatsuma raised the case of the subcontracting of data entry operations by the Japan Pension Service’s Tokyo-based contractor to a Chinese subcontractor. Nagatsuma said that detailed personal information, such as a “My Number” social identification number, may have been leaked, contrary to the initial disclosure in 2018. The Japan Pension Service (JPS) has denied Nagatsuma’s claim.

The JPS initially explained that the subcontractor only received data on names in kanji and kana. At the budget committee meeting, however, Nagatsuma presented an email sent to the JPS at the end of 2017 that says “My Number data was leaked.” The email was the one that led to the initial revelation of the issue.

JPS President Toichiro Mizushima admitted that there was one case in which personal information, such as the My Number social identification number and annual income, was discussed via email. Mizushima said, however, that “an investigation by an external expert operator found that no personal information, including My Number, was leaked (onto the Internet).”

Health Minister Norihisa Tamura emphasized the validity of the investigation, saying that “the investigation included a third-party investigator” and “computers and servers were inspected.” A top Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare official commented in response to Tokyo Shimbun’s inquiry that he is opposed to a reinvestigation. (Abridged)