Revisions to the LINE Corporation Privacy Policy

We've made changes to the LINE Privacy Policy that went into effect on March 15, 2022. These changes are required to use LINE Corporation's many services going forward. We made these changes to ensure that user privacy is taken into account when working with our partners.

All users must agree to the revised Privacy Policy to continue using LINE.

Once the updated Privacy Policy is released, you'll be able to read it and agree in the LINE app.

The major changes to the LINE Privacy Policy are as follows.

1. How we acquire and use information for sending messages and advertisements from our partners

In order to deliver more relevant content to our users, such as sending relevant messages and advertisements through LINE official accounts, we may combine customer information from our partners with our own stored information (such as user identifiers).
2. How we collect and share statistics with partners

In order to measure the effectiveness of our partners' marketing efforts, such as sending messages and advertisements through LINE official accounts, we may receive information from our partners and combine it with our own stored information when collecting and sharing statistical reports. We only provide anonymous statistical information to our partners and do not provide information that can be used to identify users.
3. Transfer of information across borders

We clarified our policy on storing information with contractors, such as: where partners are located, their security measures, and other details.

These revisions to our Privacy Policy were made to clarify how we acquire and use the information from our partners in light of amendments to the Japanese Act on the Protection of Personal Information, effective as of April 2022, and to ensure that all our users understand the policy.

Even after the revision of the Privacy Policy, we will never provide our users' personal information to any partner without the consent of the users or as permitted by applicable law.

Furthermore, we will continue to protect the privacy of messages and calls as we always have.

We'll outline the revised content with specific examples below.

We ask that you read the following explanation so that you can fully understand the updated Privacy Policy and continue to use LINE with peace of mind.

1. How we acquire and use information for sending messages and advertisements from our partners

Example scenario

In order to deliver messages and ads to LINE users that are interested in Partner Company A's products, Company A may deliver messages from its official account or serve ads in LINE apps only to users who have a history of purchasing the company's products.

Benefits for LINE users

Messages sent from the LINE official account and advertisements shown in LINE services will be better matched to each user's interests, creating a more enjoyable experience.

How we handle information

Company A provides us with a list of customers* who have a history of product purchases.
We select the LINE users from the list provided by Company A.
Company A can now serve ads or send messages from their LINE official account to the selected users.

*These lists can include user identifiers (internal identifiers, advertisement identifiers, etc.), one-way encrypted (hashed) information such as email addresses and phone numbers, IP addresses, and limited device information (OS, etc.).

For the country / region where the official account or third-party apps operator is located, the official account is displayed in the footer, and the linked apps are displayed under the app name.

- For more information on how to stop LINE official accounts from sending you messages or showing ads based on third-party customer data, please refer to Demographic-Based Service Optimization.

2. How we collect and share statistics with partners

Example scenario

In order to measure the effectiveness of the marketing methods implemented by Partner Company A through LINE, we will temporarily receive Company A's product purchase history, analyze it, and compare it with our own information on ad views and user attributes (age, gender, interests, etc.). We then provide the results of the analysis to Partner Company A.

Benefits for LINE users

By using the results of this analysis to improve the content of ads on LINE services and of messages sent from LINE official accounts, we'll be able to ensure that messages from LINE official accounts and advertisements displayed on each LINE service will be better matched to each user's interests, creating a more enjoyable experience.

How we handle information

Company A provides us with a modified list of customers* who have a history of product purchases.
We select the LINE users from the list provided by Company A.
We conduct analysis to determine, for example, whether a given user viewed or clicked on Company A's advertisement.
The results of the analysis are processed into statistical information which we provide to Company A.

*These lists can include user identifiers (internal identifiers, advertisement identifiers, etc.), one-way encrypted (hashed) information such as email addresses and phone numbers, demographic details, and consumer history which may include purchase or viewing history.

When analyzing and creating statistical information, we combine several security measures as necessary in order to protect user information. For example:

Information concerning consumer history, such as product purchase history or TV viewing history, will be received with product and program names converted to meaningless IDs, and product and program names will not be identified as part of our analysis.
Identifiers used in the process of selecting LINE users will be received with one-way encryption (hashed) if necessary, and customer information that doesn't belong to LINE users will be deleted immediately.
After LINE user information has been identified, the information will be deleted after a fixed period of time, and we will not provide this information to any other third parties.
Statistical reports will be shared with partners only if the sample size is large enough to make it difficult to identify individual users from a single data point.

*The information we use for our analysis never includes messages sent and received between users.

3. Transfer of information across borders

We've clarified in which countries our partners and LINE Group contractors who have access to user information operate, as well as the security measures taken by these companies.

User information is also provided to LINE official accounts and operators of third-party apps whenever a user adds an official account as a friend or agrees to give a third-party app access to their information respectively.

The owners of these accounts and apps may be located in countries and regions other than Japan. As shown below, we plan to allow them to register information on where they are located, and also to allow users to check this information in the profile screen of official accounts and on the screen where users consent to provide their information.

Please make sure to check the information on the country and region where the owner is located when you use LINE official accounts or linked apps.

FAQ

What are the main changes?
- In accordance with the revisions to the Japanese Act on the Protection of Personal Information, effective as of April 2022, we have updated our Privacy Policy to include the fact that we receive and use some data from our partners. This requires us to re-obtain consent from LINE users. We also reiterate in our Privacy Policy that we receive some data from our partners to create statistical reports.
Exactly what information is LINE collecting from its partners? What information does LINE store?
- We ask that you allow us to compare the hashed phone numbers, email addresses, ad IDs, and other customer information we receive from our advertising or official account operating partners against our stored information. This allows us to identify you as a LINE user to send you more relevant messages and ads.
  
  We also ask that you allow us to combine personal information received from our partners with our stored information when preparing statistical reports to our partners. Information we receive from our partners (in some cases, we receive this data only for specific subcontracted work) may include, but isn't limited to, your hashed phone number, email address, ad IDs, and consumer history (including purchase history and TV viewing history). The information we store may include, but isn't limited to, your phone number, email address, ad IDs, and ad interaction history.
Will the information obtained from partners be used for purposes other than the above?
- This information may be used to distribute surveys to LINE users and to measure the effectiveness of advertisements.
What kind of statistical information do you send to partners?
- Our reports compare numerical data from groups of users across several common categories. These numbers only reveal the trends and characteristics of groups of people, not that of individuals.
  
  For example, these reports might include statements such as "X% of the people who engaged with this ad were men in their 30s."
How do I stop receiving messages from your partners' LINE official accounts?
- You can stop all messages by following the instructions below and blocking the relevant LINE official account.
  https://guide.line.me/ja/friends-and-groups/block-friends.html
How do I stop seeing targeted ads from your partners?
- You can stop targeted ads by following the instructions below. (Note that this won't stop non-targeted ads.)
  https://terms.line.me/line_rules_optimize
Do I have to agree to the revised Privacy Policy to continue using LINE or other LINE Group services?
- Yes, you need to agree to the revised Privacy Policy to continue using the LINE app. If you choose not to agree, the LINE app will become unusable until we receive your agreement. Some LINE Group services offered through the LINE app will become unusable as well. Please check each service to learn how they'll be affected by the Privacy Policy update.
  
  You can agree to the revised Privacy Policy from within the LINE app.