Society

Government to strengthen law against use of GPS tools for stalking in Japan

Feb 27 (Japan Times) - The government on Friday adopted a bill designed to prevent through law the abuse of GPS monitoring devices for stalking.

The bill to revise the law on stalking is also aimed at criminalizing the collection of location information from targets through new means expected to become available as technology develops.

The government plans to submit the bill, which was adopted at a Cabinet meeting, to the ongoing session of the Diet.

The bill calls for criminalizing the installation of GPS monitoring devices without consent from targets and the collection of location information without permission through such items as smartphone apps that belong to targets.

The bill uses the expression “equipment that records and sends location information” when referring to GPS device so that the use of future technologies to collect such information for stalking can be regulated without needing to revise the law.

If stalkers obtain location information by using devices attached to targets’ belongings, such as their cars, they could be arrested before receiving an order to stop stalking under the revised law, according to the National Police Agency.

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