Security News > 2021 > October > Japanese messaging giant Line admits it mishandled user data, promises to do better

Line, the Japan-based messaging and payments app with millions of users around Southeast Asia, has conceded that its data protection regimes had multiple shortcomings, and therefore put users' personal information at risk.

Parent company Z-Holdings yesterday released a report compiled by a Special Advisory Committee on Global Data Governance that it convened in the wake of revelations that some user data had been processed in China and/or stored in South Korea.

Line is vastly popular in Japan, where it boasts over 85 million monthly users and is so prevalent the nation's government relies on it as a channel for digital services.

The headline finding of the committee's report is that Line outsourced some of its data handling to China without ever stopping to think that the Middle Kingdom's government might decide to have a look at user data.

For Line, that means new committees to consider data security, ensuring that communications to users don't include falsehoods, and a recognition that the company needs to understand what different jurisdictions' laws - and changes to those laws - mean for Line users everywhere.

Line also issued a guidance to users that explains how it responds to law enforcement authorities' requests to access users' data.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/10/19/line_data_governance_report/