How to work without being identified: closing off three routes — resident tax, photos and social media

There are not as many ways to be identified as people vaguely fear. In practice there are about three: the resident tax notice, photos the shop posts, and social media. And for each of them there is something concrete you can do at the application stage.

Put the other way round, the most dangerous thing is to leave all three open and just hope nobody finds out. This article sets out each route and what to do about it, with the laws and municipal guidance behind it.

Route 1: the resident tax notice

This is the most common route. For company employees, resident tax (住民税) is in principle deducted from the salary of their main job, which is called “special collection” (特別徴収). If the resident tax on side income goes through the same route, the resident tax looks unusually high for the salary, and someone in payroll may notice.

What to do: choose “pay it yourself” on page two of the tax return

In the section 「住民税に関する事項」 (matters concerning resident tax) on page two (第二表) of the tax return, you can choose 「自分で納付」 (“pay it yourself”, called 普通徴収, ordinary collection) as the way resident tax on income other than salary and public pensions is collected. If you leave it blank, the resident tax on your non-salary income is also collected by 特別徴収 (special collection: deducted from your salary).

If this box is blank, special collection applies.It is treated not as “didn’t choose” but as “chose special collection”. When you prepare your return, always check this box last.

Not filing does not make you safe

The ¥200,000 rule applies only to income tax. 住民税 (resident tax, the local tax paid to your city and prefecture) has no such exception. Municipalities advise that an employee who has ¥200,000 or less of income other than salary, and who does not file an income tax return, still has to file a resident tax declaration (市県民税の申告).

If not filing is discovered later, you pay additional tax and late-payment tax on top, and the investigation itself can expose who you are. Filing and choosing how the tax is collected is safer in the end. More in How to file a tax return.

Route 2: photos the shop posts

While you work there, your photos are posted to attract customers. The problem is that they stay up after you leave. It surfaces years later when someone finds them in a search.

Before applying: confirm in writing where photos appear and when they are deleted

There really is a shop that lists 「ホームページの写真公開の有無」 [whether your photo is shown on the website] among the things it confirms when hiring. That means there are shops where you can choose. At the application stage, confirm these four points:

1. Where the photo will be used (only the shop’s site, or social media and advertising too)
2. Whether there is an option not to show your face (mosaic, from behind, eyes blocked out, etc.)
3. By when it will be deleted after you leave
4. Who to contact to ask for deletion

Spoken promises leave nothing behind. Confirm by a channel that keeps a record of the exchange, such as email or messages, and save screenshots.

If photos remain after you leave: you can make a legal request

When the business no longer needs to use the retained personal data (保有個人データ), or when handling it could harm the rights or legitimate interests of the person it concerns, that person can ask the business handling it to stop using it or to erase it (Act on the Protection of Personal Information, 個人情報保護法, Article 35(5)). Photos that stay posted after you leave a shop can fall under the case where the data is 「利用する必要がなくなった」 [no longer needed]. However, where stopping its use would be difficult, for example because it would cost a large amount, the business may instead take alternative measures that protect the person's rights and interests (Article 35(6)).

In practice, it makes sense to proceed in this order:

1. First, ask the shop to delete them. In many cases this is enough. Send the request by a means that records the date and what you asked.
2. If they do not respond, ask again and state the legal basis. Write clearly that this is 「個人情報保護法35条5項に基づく利用停止・消去の請求」 [a request to stop use and erase under Article 35(5) of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information]. The business then has a duty to respond.
3. If nothing happens even then, get advice. The Personal Information Protection Commission has a consultation service, and if you are worried about cost, 法テラス (Houterasu, the Japan Legal Support Center, 0570-078374) can point you to where to get help.

There is also an exception: where stopping use would be difficult, for example because it would cost a large amount, the business may instead take alternative measures (Article 35(6)). However, when it comes to removing a photo from a website, the situations where this exception applies are limited.

Dealing with reposts

Even after the shop’s site removes them, your photos may have been reposted on aggregator sites or social media. Those you have to deal with at the site that reposted them, not with the shop. Use each platform’s removal request form, and for search results, each search engine’s request page. It takes time, but there are ways.

Route 3: social media

Shops sometimes ask you to bring in customers through social media. It helps your income, but it is a trade-off against exposing who you are. If you do it, keep these separate:

• Keep the accounts completely separate.Do not share your phone number, email address or contact sync with your private accounts. Contact sync exposes you both ways through “people you may know”.
• Turn off location.Not just the location on the post: it can also remain in the photo’s Exif data.
• Check what is in the background. Buildings visible from your window, station names, shop signs, post with your name on it. Get into the habit of looking only at the background once before posting.
• Be careful with physical features. Tattoos, scars and distinctive accessories can identify you even without your face.
• Watch the pattern of when you post. It can reveal where you live and when you work.

Some shops state 「SNS更新不要」 [no need to update social media] in their recruiting terms. If running social media would be a burden, look for this when choosing where to apply.

Other things to check

Your main employer’s work rules

Quite a few companies restrict side jobs. Even if you manage to separate the resident tax notice, it is still a breach of the work rules. Check your own company’s rules before you decide.

Work names and real names

A work name (源氏名) is a way of not giving your real name to customers. It does not make you anonymous to the shop. Shops generally check photo ID for the age check, so the shop knows your real name.

If anything, a shop that does not check ID is the more dangerous one. It runs the risk of having people under 18 working, and if it is raided you may not be able to recover pay you are owed either. A strict age check is a sign that a shop is run properly.

How copies of your ID are handled

If they take a copy of your ID, ask how it is stored and what happens to it after you leave. This is personal information too. Avoid a shop that will not answer or cannot explain.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

Protecting your identity is far easier if you confirm the terms at the application stage than if you scramble after you start. Where your photo appears and when it is deleted, whether you are paid as salary or under a service contract, whether you have to run social media: confirm these three at the interview and your options later change a great deal.

The full set of things to check is set out as 12 items in our guide for workers.

We are not legal or tax professionals. This article organises information published by the Personal Information Protection Commission, municipalities and the National Tax Agency. For your own situation, consult the office named in the source, or a lawyer or tax accountant.