Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government on Friday adopted a bill to allow police to analyze remotely communication devices linked to crimes, a fresh measure to prevent damage caused by “tokuryu” loosely organized anonymous criminal groups. The bill would allow police to find out fraud and robbery plans involving tokuryu groups and prevent damage by collecting information through such analysis. If approved by the Diet, Japanese parliament, during its ongoing session, the legislation would go into force within six months after its promulgation. In September, an expert panel set up by the National Police Agency proposed the introduction of the remote analysis to break down the confidentiality of communication apps used by tokuryu groups, which makes it difficult for police to take measures. According to the bill, the remote analysis would be carried out when specific crimes like calls for phone scams take place and further damage or similar cases may ensue. The investigation method would be applied to serious organized crimes repeatedly committed by multiple people in collusion and limited to cases in which there is no other means to collect information. The analysis of collected information would be conducted by officers designated by the NPA commissioner-general. The officers would obtain court warrants by explaining to judges why police judged communication devices in question will be used in crimes and how police will access the devices. The officers would copy and analyze only information that exist in the devices when they access. Only necessary information would be given to officers working on crime damage prevention and investigations. Other information would be managed by the designated officers and be deleted immediately after the analysis is complete. Police would not conduct continuous monitoring. All cases in which the remote analysis was used would be reported to public safety commissions. If problems arise, public safety commissions would call on the NPA commissioner-general and prefectural police chiefs to make necessary corrections. In principle, the owners of the communication devices which were remotely analyzed would be informed of when and why the analysis was conducted and the names of suspected crimes after the analysis. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
