Half Japanese (28M) and barely speaks Nihongo. I applied for a new job last week with the help of my friend, who works for the company to which I’m applying. I already sent my IDs like Driver’s license and passport to the recruiter last week through fb messenger. I covered the number in my passport and license before sending it. Earlier today I had my mensetsu(面接) and the recruiter asked for my ‘My Number Card.’ Kinda confused about why he did not ask for it last week but I didn’t hesitate and gave it to him. Then he removed the plastic cover and took pictures including the 12 digit number. Looked up in the net and found that the con is identity theft.
Should I worry and do something or let it go?
4 comments
You should be worried. There are laws about how companies must manage security of “specific personal information” (my number), and taking photos to be stored on a random cloud provider is definitely not one of them.
How well do you know this friend and are you sure this person works for the company?
There are specific laws about handling MyNumber data and taking pictures with an individuals phone should be outright illegal. The MyNumber data should never be viewable by anyone but the people specifically given than task, and I cannot think of a scenario where it should be admissible to just take phone snapshots in that way.
Off the top of my head I also cannot think of a case where they would need your MyNumber for just an interview. It could be that he’s poorly or untrained and an idiot and was told to get it for ID purposes; which you can do with the picture side, but when used for ID purposes it is *illegal* for someone to take a copy of the side showing the number without reason.
At a glance from your description this guy at best broke some laws because he’s an idiot and/or untrained. I would absolutely be contacting the company and consulting with a lawyer in your position, but understand that making a fuss about this will for obvious reasons likely have implications on your employment chances.
Some random reference to back this up btw:
https://it-trend.jp/my-number_management_system/article/459-0004
https://mag.smarthr.jp/hr/procedure/my-number_kaisei/
In addition to what others have said – consider leaving your My Number Card at home — I keep it next to my passport and hanko.
External recruiter here; it’s not an agents job to get your MyNumber. If the recruiter is from inside the company, they may have different policies.
Typically you only need to give those details (especially the MyNumber) AFTER you ratify an employment contract with the hiring company.
I would take this matter seriously since you already gave them your info. You may want to consider going to your ward office, let them know you wish to get a new MyNumber card as you are worried about identity theft. In addition, notify them that this happened in case someone tries to register a credit card in your name.