Japanese police seek law revision to remotely access crime ring members’ phones

TOKYO – Japan’s national police will seek legal changes to allow investigators to remotely surveil smartphones used by crime ring members who give instructions for robberies or scams, after an expert panel recommended the step on Sept 24.The proposal follows a series of crimes carried out by people recruited through social media, including teenagers and unemployed individuals. In some cases, ringleaders gave instructions from overseas.Such groups use encrypted apps such as Signal and Telegram to communicate with those carrying out their orders. As the messages can be read only on the phones used to send and receive them, police have struggled to learn of plans in time to intervene.Under the proposal, investigators would first identify a smartphone used by someone issuing instructions, then obtain a judge’s warrant to examine its communications remotely.Police could use the information to warn and protect potential victims, and if they learnt that a crime was about to take place, officers could patrol the relevant areas.To address concerns about privacy and the constitutional right to the “secrecy of communications”, the National Public Safety Commission would review every case afterwards to make sure police followed the rules.Only officers with specialist expertise chosen by the National Police Agency would be allowed to examine phones. Police would delete anything the warrant did not cover and notify the phone’s user afterwards.“I hope the system will be used properly and effectively,” said Toshihiro Kawaide, the University of Tokyo professor who chaired the panel.Yoshiyuki Morimoto, head of the agency’s secretariat, said, “We will move quickly to develop the system so we can stem the growing harm caused by these crimes.”The panel began discussions in August and released an outline of its recommendations on Sept 2.The police agency is expected to seek the revision of the Police Duties Execution Act at the earliest possible time. KYODO