In the late 1970s nervous residents of Suginami-ku, one of Tokyo's western
wards, were battling the municipality's plans to load their personal records
into electronic databases, fearing the move would make it easier for the
government to invade their privacy. To bypass the protests, local officials
simply had the menacing new computers smuggled into the ward's offices--at 3
am.

A quarter-century later, Suginami-ku's residents are at it again, fighting
fiercely to protect their privacy.

Yoshiaki Takashi, a tiny man dressed in a crumpled suit, wrinkles his brow
as he strains to find the English he used when he was a young employee of a
Japanese trading company. Now 68, his words come haltingly. But there is no
doubting their force.

"The government has given a number to human beings as if we were animals or
industrial products," he says, spitting out each syllable like a bitter
pill. "I am furious at the men who want to know my private data when they
have no business with such things."

The men who are so stirring Takashi's passions are the anonymous government
bureaucrats who are implementing a scheme to store citizens' personal data
on a nationwide electronic network. Known as Juki Net, the national database
will keep records of the name, sex, date of birth and place of residence of
every Japanese citizen, each of whom will be assigned an 11-digit code.

The scheme, launched in 2002, has unleashed an unprecedented nationwide
rebellion among a citizenry normally known for its passivity and trust of a
paternalistic government.

No fewer than 35 lawsuits are trundling through the court system,
challenging Juki Net on the grounds that it contravenes Japan's
constitutional right to privacy.

Takashi, who took part in the 1960 demonstrations, has lost what trust he
ever had in the Japanese state. He fears that, if left unchallenged, the
Juki Net will expand to become an electronic "Big Brother."

"They may start adding other information to my file: what books I read, what
organizations I belong to, what films I watch," he said.

Because I care,
<+]::-{)}  (Cyberpope(the Bishop of ROM!))

--- PPoint 1.76