LINE

LINE Transparency Report

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Jan-Jun 2020
Jul-Dec 2019 Jan-Jun 2019 Jul-Dec 2018 Jan-Jun 2018 Jul-Dec 2017 Jan-Jun 2017 Jul-Dec 2016

User Information Disclosure/Deletion Requests From Law Enforcement

Cases User Information is Provided

Summary of January - June 2020

  • Requests

    We received 1,822 requests in total

  • Handled
    Requests

    We fulfilled 72% of requests

  • Targeted Contact Information

    1,702 instances of contact information disclosure

  • Law
    enforcement

    Requests from Japanese law enforcement accounted for 80% of requests

  • From January to June 2020, we received 1,822 requests from law enforcement agencies all over the world. This marks an increase of 8% from the previous period. Information was disclosed in 1,306 requests (a 72% disclosure rate, a decrease of 1% from the previous period).
  • For the period of January - June 2020, we've included requests for financial services such as LINE Pay for the first time. For details on the services included in this report, see our service list.
  • Out of the 1,306 requests in which information was disclosed, 1,157 involved the LINE app, a decrease of 11% compared to the 1,304 requests received the previous period. From January to March, and in June, the monthly average number of requests was 274, while in April and May the monthly average was 217 requests, indicating fewer requests received during this period.
  • 28% of requests were related to incidents involving financial harm. The main reasons for making requests varied by location. In Japan, most requests were related to incidents involving children (29%). In Taiwan, most requests were related to financial harm (27%).
  • Information on 1,702 accounts was disclosed as part of the 1,306 requests that we fulfilled. This is a ratio of 1.3 accounts per fulfilled request. Each request involved 1.23 accounts on average—not a significant change from the previous period.
  • This period marked the first time since we began compiling statistics that a request was received from Israel. We began compiling statistics in 2016 and has received requests from 17 countries and regions to date.
  • The majority of requests came from Japanese (80%) and Taiwanese (15%) law enforcement agencies. This fits with the numbers from 2016 (the first year we 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 17.1 accounts was disclosed to law enforcement. For every one million monthly active users in Taiwan, information on 12.2 accounts was similarly disclosed.
  • Investigation-related inquiries in Japan saw a sharp rise, from two during the last period, to 115 during this period. A large number of these inquiries (113) were related to LINE Pay. We will only respond to investigation-related inquiries if there is detailed proof of money laundering or fraud, if damages have been caused via LINE Pay, or if LINE Pay was used in the perpetration of a crime. We will not disclose user information if law enforcement agencies do not provide detailed evidence of a crime being committed. For details on our policy regarding responding to and disclosing information to law enforcement agencies, see Responding to law enforcement agencies.

Report notes

  • This report covers information on the number of disclosure requests from law enforcement made to us and the number of cases which were actually disclosed in the relevant 6 month period.
  • The reports prior to and including Jan-Jun 2018 cover data related to the LINE app only. The reports for Jul-Dec 2018 and onward cover data related to all services that LINE Corporation provides. The reports for Jul-Jun 2020 and onward cover data related to services provided by LINE Corporation and its group companies. Check the service list below for a list of relevant services.
  • We comply 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 the LINE app, 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.
  • We 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 users' contact information.
  • We handle requests from overseas in accordance with frameworks for international investigation cooperation such as ‘The Act on International Assistance in Investigation and Other Related Matters’ and mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT) with specific countries. 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 contact information (phone number, LINE ID, etc.) of users that authorities suspect are involved in a crime.

Services

Reports for this period include the services listed below.

  • LINE
  • LINE Official Account
  • LINE PLAY
  • LINE LIVE
  • OpenChat
  • LINE GAME
  • LINE Gift
  • Livedoor Blogs
  • LINE TICKET
  • LINE Pay (Japan only)
  • LINE POINTS
  • LINE Securities
  • LINE Pocket Money
  • BITMAX

Services for which requests were not received were not included in the list above.

Disclosure requests

Germany Disclosure Requests
Request 2
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Japan Disclosure Requests
Request 1,465
Fulfillments Warrant 1,019
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 115
Emergency (*1) 3
Targeted Contact
Information 		1,440
Korea Disclosure Requests
Request 59
Fulfillments Warrant 4
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		5
Singapore Disclosure Requests
Request 2
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
United Kingdom Disclosure Requests
Request 4
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Sweden Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Taiwan Disclosure Requests
Request 280
Fulfillments Warrant 165
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		257
United States of America Disclosure Requests
Request 6
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Thailand Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Israel Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Australia Disclosure Requests
Request 1
Fulfillments Warrant 0
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 -
Emergency (*1) 0
Targeted Contact
Information 		0
Total Disclosure Requests
Request 1,822
Fulfillments Warrant 1,188
Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 115
Emergency (*1) 3
Targeted Contact
Information 		1,702
Disclosure requests
  Request Fulfillments Targeted Contact
Information
Warrant Investigation
-Related Inquiry		 Emergency (*1)
Germany 2 0 - 0 0
Japan 1,465 1,019 115 3 1,440
Korea 59 4 - 0 5
Singapore 2 0 - 0 0
United Kingdom 4 0 - 0 0
Sweden 1 0 - 0 0
Taiwan 280 165 - 0 257
United States of America 6 0 - 0 0
Thailand 1 0 - 0 0
Israel 1 0 - 0 0
Australia 1 0 - 0 0
Total 1,822 1,188 115 3 1,702

(*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 table below breaks down the disclosed data.

  • The majority of the requests in relation to the LINE app involved children (including violations of municipal ordinances on youth protection, violations of dating site regulations, child prostitution, child pornography, and child abuse). To protect children from crime and provide a safe environment for our services, We carry out initiatives such as:
  • Starting in September 2020, distributing educational materials to promote financial and information literacy through the LINE MIRAI Foundation.

Deletion Requests

No effective deletion request has been received from the authorities during this period.
More details on this report
If you are an investigating authority and wish to request us to disclose or delete user information, please refer to this guide.

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