LINE

Report Notes

• This report covers information on the number of disclosure requests from law enforcement made to LINE and the number of cases which were actually disclosed in this period.
• This report includes requests related to the LINE messaging app only.
• LINE complies with disclosure requests from Japanese law enforcement when at least one of the following legal grounds is met:
  • Warrant (Code of Criminal Procedure): A document issued by a court that permits or orders seizure, inspection or other activities.
  • Investigation-Related Inquiry (Code of Criminal Procedure): An information disclosure request from law enforcement to a business operator or other entity for aiding in an investigation.
  • Emergency (Penal Code): An emergency action taken when a human life or rights are under threat. For LINE(In the case of LINE), this means identifying a relevant user when, for example, a bomb threat or suicide threat is made.
• “Warrants” and “Investigation-Related Inquiries” include requests received originally as “Emergencies” but fulfilled(handled) in accordance with corresponding procedures for relevant legal documents.
• LINE(The person in charge of LINE) will only cooperate with criminal investigations in accordance with strict information handling rules, and only when a thorough verification confirms the legality or overall(and) propriety of the investigation.
• A single request may include(contain) multiple pieces of contact information.
• LINE fulfills(handles) requests from non-Japanese law enforcement according to the Act on International Assistance, the mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) of relevant countries and other international investigation assistance frameworks. This includes instances where the Japanese police receive a request via the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) or Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives a request via an embassy. The same rules regarding warrants and verification by privacy protection organizations and other handling rules still apply.
• “Targeted Contact Information” indicates the specific user contact information (phone number, LINE ID, etc.) that authorities identified as relevant to their investigation(suspect are involved in crime).