Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed a potential release of the digital identification card app My Number on iPhones in Japan, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.

Digital IDs are reportedly an essential part of Japan's digital transformation and while Cook agreed to work on the project, he also expressed concern about the ways in which personal data could be used by the country's authorities and said that regulations on app distribution should not jeopardize user safety.

According to the report, Cook traveled to Tokyo to meet with Kishida on December 15 in an attempt to make sure that competition issues about the Apple App Store's third-party policy the American company had faced elsewhere do not arise in Japan as well.