LINE

Report notes for 2021

• 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.
• Starting from this period, we have changed the method by which we calculate report statistics. Up until this period, we counted requests that were both received and fulfilled within the report period in our statistics. From this period onward, we will count only requests fulfilled within the report period regardless of when they were received. Due to this change, the report for this period (January - June, 2021) includes requests that were received during the previous period (July - December, 2020) or earlier but fulfilled during this one. This means that some fulfilled requests were included in multiple previous reports. Duplicate fulfilled requests by service include 163 involving LINE, 13 involving LINE Pay, and 11 involving other services. Duplicate fulfilled pieces of information by country include 192 in Japan, 50 in Taiwan, and 3 in Korea. There was no duplication in the actual number of requests.
• 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 by request of a law enforcement agency that permits 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”, 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 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 or overall propriety of the investigation.
• A single request may include multiple pieces of contact information.
• We fulfill 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 user contact information (phone number, LINE ID, etc.) that authorities identified as relevant to their investigation.