A recent district court ruling came as a warning about possible misuse of personal information by police concerning ordinary citizens.

It underscored the need to check how law enforcement authorities are gathering and using such data behind their walls of secrecy and to prevent inappropriate handling.

The Gifu District Court ruled Feb. 21 that prefectural police violated the law by passing on information about residents opposed to a wind farm project to a renewable energy subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power Co.

Acknowledging that police “actively, intentionally and continuously provided” information to the company,” the court ordered the Gifu prefectural government to pay compensation to the plaintiffs.

The information amassed by police included things that should be protected, such as the thoughts and beliefs of the individuals as well as matters concerning their private lives, according to the court.

Calling the act of providing the information “malicious,” the court awarded the four plaintiffs damages totaling 2.2 million yen ($19,200), a relatively large sum for this kind of lawsuit.

The decision should prompt police authorities across Japan to review and, if necessary, reform their operations concerning the handling of personal information.

Chubu Electric’s subsidiary kept records of talks between the company and prefectural police on the wind farm project in 2013 and 2014.

The minutes contain a remark by a senior police officer at the local Ogaki police station that indicated a hostile attitude toward citizens’ movements.

The records also include information about the plaintiffs provided by police, such as descriptions of the individuals, their personal histories and recent activities, and even the state of their health.

During the trial, the prefectural police asserted that much of the information was already in the public domain as a result of earlier actions by the plaintiffs.

But the ruling rejected this argument. It also noted that the actions of the individuals did not risk causing harm to public security or general law and order.

The prefectural police refused to disclose key facts about the provision of information to the company, including its objectives, under the pretext that it might impact future operations.

They also refused to allow police officers involved to testify in court as witnesses. This attitude only serves to make citizens more leery of police.

Another key issue in the trial was whether the police broke the law by collecting information about the plaintiffs.

The court ruled in favor of police in this regard, arguing there was no solid case for calling the activity “illegal.” 

This judgment is by no means convincing.

While acknowledging the lack of substantial need to collect the information, the court said it could theoretically be argued that the citizens’ campaign had the potential to eventually pose a threat to public security, depending on the way it panned out.

For this reason, it decreed the collection of information by police was within legal boundaries.

If such theoretical logic is accepted, it could be used to warrant any attempt to gather information by law enforcement authorities.

It is necessary for police to gather intelligence to detect and prevent terrorist acts or other crimes.

However, the target in the latest case was an innocuous study group of 10 or so citizens concerned about the possible negative environmental impact of a wind farm project.

The judiciary should act as a bulwark against abuse of police powers.

If it fails to perform this role, the public will feel intimidated by police operations to monitor them, which will stifle healthy debate on public issues.

The Asahi Shimbun was the first media organization to expose the dubious activities of the Gifu prefectural police.

But a blue wall of police silence prevents the public from monitoring and examining how police collect and provide information.

National and prefectural public safety commissions are supposed to oversee police activities on behalf of the public.

But it has long been pointed out that the commissions no longer function as they are supposed to.

With regard to the latest case, the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission told the Diet he had received a report that stated the information was being handled in an appropriate manner.

The court ruling should trigger a wholesale review, including a scrutiny of the performances of the commissions.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 24