Neon Genesis Evangelion's Creator Was Just Doxxed By a Gas Station
Being a public figure is hard for a number of reasons. Between your day job and family, it can be a lot to juggle the public's reaction to you wherever you go. For anime creators, they often get a pass as their notoriety is kept on the low, but some mega stars are too recognizable to fly under the radar. And sadly, that is how the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion just got doxxed by a gas station employee.
The whole thing went down in Japan as Hideaki Anno needed to fill up his gas tank. The creator went to a local gas station, and the person working the register believed they knew who Anno was. This was confirmed when the creator signed his sales receipt as Hideaki Anno, and without thinking about it, took a photo of the paper.
Over on Twitter, the gas station clerk posted a photo of the receipt and geeked out over meeting Anno. This may seem simple enough, but the photo outed more than the creator's personal signature. The receipt was not redacted at all, so the Internet was told how Anno paid for his gass, the last four digits of his card, the card's payment approval code, and even his T-points number which is used across all sorts of Japanese businesses.
As you can imagine, this picture made the rounds on social media quickly, and many advised the worker to delete it entirely. The clerk did just that the next day and deleted his entire account as well. The move came shortly after the gas station chain the clerk worked for issued a public apology about the ordeal. Eneos promised customers it took privacy very seriously and ensured this kind of incident would not happen again. As for Anno, no one from his camp has commented on the ordeal.
Sadly, this is not the first time an anime-related celebrity has been doxxed, and it surely will not be the last. Japan has strict privacy guidelines, so it is always a surprise to see something like this happen. Luckily, much of Anno's private info is still his to keep, but he may need to get a new T-points number before long...
What do you make about this wild case involving Evangelion? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.