Biometric information system for Immigration linking US-VISIT and JAPAN-VISIT

Original publication date: April 22, 2006

Yesterday afternoon, against our strong objections, the House Session on the "Explanation of the Substance of the Bill and Explanation of the Revision Proposed by the Ruling Party" [Houan shushi setumei - Yotougawa shuuseian setsumei / 法案趣旨説明・与党側修正案説明] of Japan's Conspiracy Law was forced through by the ruling LDP-New Komeito coalition. The level of coverage on this issue in the news media between yesterday and today has been such that only the most observant and perceptive reader would ever have noticed it. For this reason, I have decided to put all my effort into transmitting the story of what is happening, under the regime of the powerful ruling party coalition, in the National Diet. Actually, at the Committee on Judicial Affairs yesterday, I asked a question that I had been meaning to ask for some time. This question was not about the bill's idea or philosophy, but rather was about issues regarding the purchase of goods and awarding of contracts following from the revision of immigration regulations; i.e. the process by which a new system for gathering fingerprints and photographs will be introduced, and by which the legacy system, an old-fashioned closed system, will be reformed.

There is a document entitled: "Summary of the Investigation of the Low-price Bid" [Teinyuusatsu kakaku chousa no gaiyou/低入札価格調査の概要] (Accounts Division, Minister's Secretariat, Minister of Justice). When I read it on the net, I had to rub my eyes for a moment. In this document, it was noted that Accenture, a company headquartered in Bermuda, had been awarded a service contract for software development and testing of a system to handle biometric information from fingerprinting and mug shot data, the same data collection that I had brought into question in earlier deliberations on immigration regulations. The successful bid for this contract was awarded at a price of only 100,000 yen (maintenance services: 90,000 yen, product development expenses: 10,000 yen). Since this price was much too low, the Secretariat of the Minister of Justice, Accounts Division, out of consideration, released the record of the hearing to the general public. Let's read it and see what it says.

The document reads:

"In the matter of the administration of the demonstration experiment and trial operation, the general contractor:

• Is capable of implementing, with a minimum of required customization, operations putting into practice their know-how and accumulated overseas institutional experience from having handled the design, development, and project administration of a system using biometric information certification technology.
  
• From accumulated experience and know-how gained through investigations on reform of and optimization project development for the Immigration Bureau, is capable of effectively putting operations into execution.
  
• In terms of its company-wide policy, Accenture Japan Ltd. focuses on homeland security, however customizing its operations for the Immigration Bureau will enable it to accumulate experience and know-how as well as strengthen its performance capability in order to attract potential clients; therefore, as part of its business strategy, it will implement the project at the bidding price.
  

For these reasons, it has been decided that Accenture Japan Ltd. is capable of carrying out the operations for the price proposed."

They claim that the company has a performance record overseas, but where is it? Yesterday, I inquired about this to the head of the Immigration Bureau. He replied: "Accenture handled the US-VISIT program in the United States." In other words, Japan is the second country in which the program will be introduced, and therefore the statement is only applicable to the case of the United States. Now, why only 100,000 yen? Regardless of how much experience you may say they have, in one year extracting fingerprints and photographs of 7.5 million foreigners and experimenting with an automatic gate system, an immigration-version of the ETC [Electronic Toll Collection] System, 100,000 yen is not enough, however you think about it. The hint that unravels this mystery was recorded in the following document, entitled:

Other work contract circumstances in the aforementioned contract period: "Immigration control operations" and "Regulation of Alien Registration Certificate" operations and system optimization project development (Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau) [In Japanese: 当該契約期間中における他の契約請負状況 「出入国管理業務」及び「外国人登録証明書調整業務」の業務・システムの最適化計画策定]

On closer examination, the same company was awarded an order in 2004 for a "System Reform Investigation" [Sasshin kanou chousa/刷新可能性調査] (58.8 million yen) of the system presently in use at the Immigration Office, originally developed by Hitachi, Ltd. using a closed legacy system, and in January 2005 submitted the "Immigration Control System Reform Investigation Report" [Shutsunyuukoku kanri shisutemu sasshin kanousei chousa houkokusho/出入国管理システム刷新可能性調査報告書]. Moreover, Accenture Japan Ltd. has been awarded the contract for the "Optimization Project" [Saitekika keikaku/最適化計画] (94.92 million yen, June 2005) based on the same investigation. In this "Optimization Project Specification" [Saitekika keikaku no shiyousho/最適化計画の仕様書], it is written that: "The contractor who will execute operation of the authentication system trials and automatic gate system (tentative title) to be used in the Immigration Bureau Access Control Information Systems Division as well in IC passports, etc., will be advised accordingly." The same company Accenture Japan Ltd., with direct ties to this 94.92 million yen contract, three months later launched a bid of only 100,000 yen to carry out the operations itself. This is not advising: Accenture essentially nominated itself.

Moreover, Accenture Japan Ltd. has also been awarded a contract for "Management integration project support services related to the development of the new version of the registration information system" (Justice Ministry, Civil Affairs Bureau)" and "System testing, installation, etc. for the prosecution integrated information administration system (Justice Department, Criminal Affairs Bureau)". Within the Justice Department alone, this company headquartered in Bermuda, Accenture, without any of us even noticing it, is becoming heavily engaged in the development of a database for registration, prosecution and immigration.

We are challenging the "administration society" and "surveillance society". However, this is not a problem of advocates of control and surveillance within Japan trying to Americanize the post-9/11 Japanese society on the basis of their ideas and philosophy. Rather, the issue is that the American government and a major consulting company ― with giant contracts on a scale of 10 billion dollars (about 1.1 trillion yen) ― are drafting plans to lay down rails so that, once completed, Japanese bureaucracy will be left to do nothing but draft bills.

Have a look at the homepage of the American Embassy in Japan. In a document entitled "Fact-sheet: Secure Borders and Open Doors in the Information Age" (January 17, 2006), it is written that:

"As the United States’ systems and data improve, State and DHS must make these initiatives global.  We will continue diplomatic efforts for the comprehensive exchange of watch-lists, biometrics, and lost and stolen passport information with other governments as well as building capacity to effectively use this information.  A central topic in this diplomacy is development of a common approach to protecting the privacy of the data, both in the way it is collected and the way it is shared."

I see, the scales have fallen from my eyes. For Japan to be the first to have this system, JAPAN-VISIT must be paired with US-VISIT, and Accenture is the only candidate for the job.