TOKYO, Jan. 19, 2024—The reporter was about to push the Registration button on the website page for registration as a Noto Peninsular earthquake volunteer when he noticed ‘HUGKUMI, LLC’ at the bottom of the page, and stopped and clicked on the company.
The HUGKUMI, LLC website described its business in English, ‘We support welfare, disaster prevention, and disaster relief through the use of IT.’ The site’s Japanese description said the company’s business credo is ‘fielding across Japan the business based on the welfare and information technology concept’ based on Kurobe City, Toyama.
The company offers consulting services, ‘DX: Digital Transformation that focuses on ‘X’ rather than D. We Will Suggest the most effective way to do so,’ it said. The company also holds seminars, it said. ‘Experienced staff in the field of education and welfare will plan the training, give lecturers (sic), and follow up after the training.’
The website’s another page is for registering for volunteers as individuals and organizations, the page that seems to be managed by the company. It said the company’s ‘public relations and communications team is drafting a special site’ for volunteers, and that the Ishikawa municipal office began accepting pre-registration on Jan. 6.
A spokeswoman for HUGKUMI, LLC told the reporter Jan. 19, 2024 that the company has written the volunteer application form for the prefecture government and managing applications from volunteers on behalf of the prefecture government. Asked how volunteers’ privacy is protected, she said, ‘Our contract with the prefecture guarantees volunteer privacy protection’ but acknowledged that the volunteer form does not have privacy protection provisions. A prefecture volunteer section official confirmed to the reporter that the volunteer form does not bear privacy protection terms. Pressed on, the official said that his supervisor is out of office for earthquake rescues and cannot be reached.
On Jan. 18, 2024, the prefecture announced that the number of volunteers pre-registered had totaled 10,900, of which those from outside the prefecture accounted for 7,800.
The Prospect speculates that personal information of the volunteers might be compromised, if not immediately but later from various passageways.
HUGKUMI,LLC was founded in January 2021 by Kazuhiro Nagai serving as ‘executive officer.’ After resigning from a public social and welfare association of Matsuzaka City, Miel Prefecture, he founded a nonprofit in Kurobe in 2013, and started the ‘Green Down Project’ to recycle used clothing downs in 2015, according to the website. The spokeswoman, whose last name is Nagai so presumably his relative, said the company has four executives, including Mr. Nagai, and no employees.
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