LINE

LINE Transparency Report

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Jan-Jun 2018
Jan-Jun 2019 Jul-Dec 2018 Jul-Dec 2017 Jan-Jun 2017 Jul-Dec 2016

User Information Disclosure/Deletion Requests From Law Enforcement

Cases User Information is Provided
  • Jul-Dec 2016
  • Jan-Jun 2017
  • Jul-Dec 2017
  • Jan-Jun 2018

Summary of January–June 2018

  • Requests

    LINE received 1,576 requests in total

  • Handled
    Requests

    76% of the total requests were handled

  • Targeted Contact Information

    1,560 instances of contact information disclosure

  • Law
    Enforcement

    Requests from Japanese law enforcement accounted for 86% of the total

  • From January to June 2018, LINE received 1,576 requests related to the LINE messaging app from law enforcement agencies all over the world. This is an increase of 186 requests (13% increase) from the previous period. Information was disclosed in 1,190 requests (76%). The increase of requests is mainly due to requests from Japanese (31% increase in requests related to bodily harm) and Taiwanese (28% increase in requests related to financial harm) law enforcement agencies.
  • Information on 1,560 accounts was disclosed as part of the 1,190 requests that LINE fulfilled. This is a ratio of 1.31 accounts per each fulfilled request. This ratio is around the same level as the previous period's ratio (1.27 accounts per each fulfilled request).
  • This period marked the first time since LINE began compiling statistics that a request was received from Germany. LINE began compiling statistics in 2016 and has received requests from 13 countries and regions to date.
  • The majority of requests came from Japanese (86%) and Taiwanese (11%) law enforcement agencies. This fits with the numbers from 2016 (the first year LINE began compiling statistics)—87% of requests came from Japan, 10% of requests came from Taiwan.
  • For every one million monthly active users in Japan, information on 17.0 accounts was disclosed with law enforcement. For every one million monthly active users in Taiwan, information on 12.4 accounts was disclosed with law enforcement.
  • 33% of requests were related to incidents involving children. The main reasons for making requests can vary by location. In Japan, most requests are related to incidents involving children (38%). In Taiwan, most requests are related to financial harm (67%).

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 for aiding in an investigation.
    • Emergency (Penal Code): An emergency action taken when a human life or rights are under threat. In the case of LINE, this means identifying a relevant user when a bomb threat or suicide threat is made.
  • “Warrants” and “Investigation-Related Inquiries” include requests received originally as “Emergency ” requests but handled in accordance with corresponding procedures for relevant legal documents.
  • 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 and propriety of the investigation.
  • A single request may contain multiple contact information.
  • LINE 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 organization and other handling rules still apply.
  • “Targeted Contact Information” indicates the specific contact information (phone number, LINE ID, etc.) of users that authorities suspect are involved in crime.

Disclosure Requests - Total

Germany Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Data Provided Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Japan Disclosure Requests
Request 1,347
Data Provided Warrant 1,021
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 0
Emergency (*1) 1
Targeted Contact
Information 		1,294
Singapore Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Data Provided Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
South Korea Disclosure Requests
Request 48
Data Provided Warrant 5
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		5
Taiwan Disclosure Requests
Request 176
Data Provided Warrant 163
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contac
Information 		261
United Kingdom Disclosure Requests
Request 2
Data Provided Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
United States Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Data Provided Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Total Disclosure Requests
Request 1,576
Data Provided Warrant 1,189
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 0
Emergency (*1) 1
Targeted Contact
Information 		1,560
Disclosure Requests - total
  Request Data Provided Targeted Contact
Information
Warrant Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 Emergency (*1)
Germany 1 0 - 0 0
Japan 1,347 1,021 0 1 1,294
Singapore 1 0 - 0 0
South Korea 48 5 - 0 5
Taiwan 176 163 - 0 261
United Kingdom 2 0 - 0 0
United States 1 0 - 0 0
Total 1,576 1,189 0 1 1,560

(*1) Includes cases where we discovered crime or self-harm threats through Timeline monitoring and notified the police based on the urgency of the matter.

The breakdown of disclosure is as follows:

Abuse of children 33%
Financial harm 26%
Bodily harm 18%
Illegal and harmful information 8%
Unauthorized access 1%
Others 14%
  • The majority of the requests involved children (violations of municipal ordinances concerning youth protection, violations of dating site regulations, child prostitution, child pornography, child abuse etc.). In order to protect children from crime and provide an environment that is safe to use, LINE carries out initiatives such as the following in Japan and other countries:
    • Restrict the Friend search function for minors
    • Distribute educational materials to minors, guardians, and educators
    • Conduct workshops and lectures at schools
    • Established a "Committee to Prepare and Maintain an Environment for Youths to Use the Internet"
    • Conducted a survey in collaboration with the Board of Education to understand the way internet is used among youths.

Deletion Requests

No effective deletion request has been received from the authorities during this period.
For details on this report, see here.

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