The National Police Agency said Thursday that it will consider introducing a new investigation method that involves remotely analyzing communications exchanged through highly confidential apps between members of tokuryū loosely organized anonymous criminal groups.
The method is intended to prevent damage by detecting tokuryū groups’ plans for special fraud and other crimes before they are put into action.
A relevant panel of experts will hold its first meeting Monday to discuss technical matters, challenges in terms of human rights — such as secrecy of communication — and necessary legal preparations, partly by studying measures adopted by foreign investigative authorities, for the early implementation of the investigation technique.
Its nine members, including university professors well versed in the Constitution and criminal law, a lawyer and a cybersecurity expert, will also take up issues such as the scope of information to be collected through the new investigation method and the types of crimes subject to it.
The method involves remote-controlling smartphones and other devices of high-ranking tokuryū members identified through police investigations and other measures to access communication records and other information.
This approach is intended to identify future crime plans and potential targets, prevent damage by strengthening patrols and taking the targeted individuals into protective custody, and crack down on tokuryū organizations.
Damage from special fraud, which exploits telephones and social media, remains a serious problem in Japan. At a July ministerial meeting on combating crimes, the government stressed its intention to speed up discussions on new investigation methods.
Signal, Telegram and other apps used by tokuryū groups are characterized by high confidentiality, with features such as encryption and automatic deletion of messages.
Currently, police analyze devices seized from perpetrators to identify those involved, but this process takes time, and the information obtained is limited.
Identifying key tokuryū figures who communicate with other members only through these apps is very challenging, and such senior members tend to replace lower-ranking members while continuing to commit crimes.
Unlike email and social media, the records of communication exchanged between users of the apps are not available to service providers, making it meaningless for police to ask the operators for the submission of such records for investigative cooperation.
