Japan’s Naver has stepped in to end speculation about privacy by reaffirming that chat logs of its popular Line IM app would only be released to authorities when presented with a Japanese court order.
NHN CEO Akira Morikawa rebutted claims from the Thai police that claimed Line was secretly cooperating with them in sharing chat logs. He said that Thai authorities had not contacted the company and said that privacy was of utmost importance.
Thailand country manager Lee Jin-Woo also said that Thai police had not contacted him, and explained that it would take time for the Thai government to get a court order in Japan.
Previously, the commander of Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division Pisit Pao-In said that he was sending a task force to Japan to seek cooperation to monitor certain individuals in the name of national security.
Later, Pisit told reporters that Line was already secretly cooperating with them, and dismissed the company’s stance that it had not received any request from the Thai police as just PR spin.
Line has over 10 million users in Thailand and has a vibrant advertising ecosystem, with many Thai companies frequently offering free in-app stickers that users can send to each other.