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The story
According to reporting by the Mainichi Shimbun, Kanagawa Prefectural Police had been repurposing photos from expired driver’s licenses collected during license renewals, feeding them into a security-division database used to track extremists, right-wing activists, and lone-offender terrorists. The National Police Agency says this is highly likely to violate the Personal Information Protection Act, and has ordered the deletion of the improperly collected data while launching a nationwide survey of other prefectural police forces to check for similar practices. On 5ch, a view tolerating the practice (“if it’s for public safety, so be it”) clashed with criticism (“the law means nothing if police themselves collect data illegally outside its intended purpose”), while many were surprised to learn that license collection and return rules differ by prefecture.
Expired licenses repurposed for security investigations — practice may have been standard at Kanagawa police for 30 years | Mainichi Shimbun
At police stations under Kanagawa Prefectural Police, expired licenses collected during renewal were handed over to the security division, which repurposed the photos of extremists and right-wing figures as investigative material. On the 22nd, the National Police Agency explained that this amounted to using information held for license-administration purposes outside its intended scope, and is highly likely to violate the Personal Information Protection Act. It revealed that it has deleted the improperly collected data and launched a nationwide survey of other prefectural police forces to check for similar practices.
Were ordinary drivers’ records swept up and diverted too?
Source: mainichi.jp / Original article here
What people said
Not for regular people, obviously —
but for terrorists and yakuza? Sure, go ahead.
Even if it'd be better off legal, it's a huge problem if police were doing it knowing it was illegal.
Re: #4
>pulling out the license itself
If all they needed was the photo, there was no reason to go this far.
Fine by me, keep doing it.
That level of distrust is brutal lol
If they scanned the data and sold the images, they could probably fetch a good price from organized crime.
I don't get this at all.
What's wrong with police using a license that police themselves issued?
No need for this pointless witch hunt.
It's fine if there's a warrant or it's a voluntary investigation — otherwise it's not.
The real question is whether preemptively collecting personal data before an investigation even starts is allowed, and Japan doesn't clearly permit that.
On the other hand, under Article 197, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, voluntarily submitted investigative information from a voluntary investigation is exempt from the Personal Information Protection Act.
Voluntary investigations do have internal documentation and approval processes within the police, but who's actually targeted and how it's run in practice stays invisible from the outside.
It's for the safety of ordinary citizens.
An illegal investigation basically guarantees acquittal — they won't get a conviction. The evidence won't be admissible.
Ah, so that's it — the confiscation isn't optional, it's mandatory?
I figured getting it back was standard everywhere, but I guess it varies by prefecture.
Truly living up to the world's weakest-nerved nation reputation with this level of jumpiness.
It's funny — even guys whose personal info isn't worth a single yen are freaking out.
That said, ever since going digital, Japan's actually become a graying country that's more careless about personal data leaks than other countries.
Same here, they punch a hole and return it — but apparently in response to this case the National Police Agency issued a notice saying "return in principle," so it must have varied by police station until now.
Then get the law changed first. If the police themselves are the ones breaking it, that defeats the whole point.
"This much is fine," he says, from an organization that leaks even its own staff's data lol.
And sure enough, there's already a story about a senior patrol officer leaking it.
Do other prefectures actually give it back?
At Fuchu they punch a hole in it and hand it back at the counter right after the eye test.
If not getting it back means your personal info ends up handled illegally, of course people would complain, duh.
What's actually wrong with it?
Feels like every prefectural police force probably does this quietly, whatever they say officially.
Do they sell the info for more if it's a celebrity?
There have been cops who used improperly obtained internal police info to stalk women, you know. More than one case, too.
Even for the police, it's now essential to clearly state the reason for collecting data, maintain storage systems matched to that stated purpose, and thoroughly dispose of it once it's no longer needed.
It can be used for investigations — that's already written into law.
The problem here is that they didn't follow the proper procedure.
Surely there's other info available without resorting to that.
Chances to get your hands on a photo like that don't come along that often, do they?
Here in Tokyo where I live, they punch a hole and hand it back to the driver.
I'd guess most prefectures do the same.
But apparently Kanagawa was holding onto them.
Background and key points of debate
Rules for collecting and returning licenses vary by prefecture: Tokyo and others punch a hole in the old license and hand it back at the renewal counter, while Kanagawa kept licenses without returning them at all. The Personal Information Protection Act exempts information submitted for voluntary investigations under Article 197, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, but whether building a sweeping photo database before any case is even opened falls under that exemption is a separate matter — and the National Police Agency itself treated it as likely misuse, ordering the data deleted and a nationwide survey launched. On the thread, opinions split between “this should be tolerated if it’s for counterterrorism” and “if it’s needed, amend the law first — it’s backwards for the police to just break it instead,” with some critics citing past cases of officers using internal police information to stalk people.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and summaries of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Expired Driver’s Licenses Reused for Security Surveillance — Kanagawa Police Practice May Have Run for 30 Years.”
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