Tansa received a letter from lawyers representing Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta, whose app Album Collection was a hotbed of crime.

(Illustration by qnel)

Smartphone apps magnify harm as sexual images of women and children spread online.

In December 2023, Album Collection was ranked first in the “Photos & Videos” category of Apple’s App Store, followed by Instagram in second and YouTube in fourth. This shows just how many users Album Collection had.

Album Collection ceased operating in January 2024, after being investigated in this series.

However, one thing was still unclear: Who was operating Album Collection? With the help of white-hat hackers, I had reported my findings in five articles of this series, originally published from September to November 2023. Still, mysteries remained.

For example, although I was able to ascertain that Album Collection’s operating company Eclipse Incorporated was registered in Hawaii, I was unable to determine whether it was active. I also learned that there were two Japanese operators of Album Collection and its predecessor app. I asked one of them for an interview and sent questions but received no response. The other I did not know how to contact.

I needed to understand how Album Collection was run in detail, because victims still suffer from the sharing of their sexual images, and the operators need to be held accountable.

There are also many other apps that resemble Album Collection in terms of their mechanism and how they are operated. It was necessary to fully understand Album Collection in order to eradicate these similar apps and sites as well.

I have tried various methods of investigative reporting in order to discover the reality behind Album Collection. I received help from white-hat hackers, and I was joined part-way through my investigation by a team of journalists from NHK, Japan’s national public broadcaster, and their special program “Investigative Journalism: The New Century.” We are conducting our investigation together.

As a result of our collaboration, we made a number of new discoveries, including the involvement of criminal groups and fact that Eclipse was receiving at least several hundred million yen a year from operating Album Collection.

On the day before we left for Singapore

On Nov. 24, 2023, the day before I was to leave for a reporting trip to Singapore, I received a letter at the Tansa office.

It was addressed to Tansa Editor-in-Chief Makoto Watanabe and myself, and had been sent by certified mail from the law office TMI Associates (located in Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo).

Upon opening the envelope, I found a three-page document titled “Inquiry.” The senders were attorneys Shunsuke Terakado and Kaori Uemura, who stated that they represented Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta.

Takahama was the person I had planned to interview on my trip to Singapore.

I had repeatedly requested via email and other methods to interview him about the operation of Album Collection, but I had received no response. Since I had discovered that he lived in Singapore, Watanabe and I decided to try to interview him there directly. Why would he send a document through his lawyer just before we set out?

In their letter, the lawyers requested that Tansa pull all articles in this series that related to Takahama and Nitta.

“We request that you remove all articles in this series that contain information that could identify the notifiers [Takahama and Nitta] (including, but not limited to, their names, company names, locations, and personal histories) within seven days of receipt of this document.”

If Tansa failed to comply with their request, they warned that “To be clear, we would like to resolve this matter amicably, but if you do not respond in good faith, we will have to consider legal action, including both civil and criminal.”

Why were they making such a demand?

The “inquiry” received from the lawyers. Photo by Mariko Tsuji.

A potential shell company

In articles in this series published between September and November 2023, Tansa reported that Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta are involved in the management of Album Collection.

Published (in Japanese) on Sept. 14
Album Collection has a shell company in Hawaii? (14)

 

Published (in Japanese) on Sept. 28
“Nitta,” the representative of the operating company (15)

 

Published (in Japanese) on Oct. 5
Hawaii → Singapore → London → Shibuya (16)

 

Published (in Japanese) on Oct. 12
The “charisma” in business behind a dangerous app (17)

 

Published (in Japanese) on Nov. 23
Operators of apps similar to Album Collection were convicted (18)

The question “Who is running Album Collection?” had been the starting point for our investigation.

Album Collection’s website and the App Store list Eclipse as the app’s operating company. “William Leal” is listed as company representative.

However, the true nature of Eclipse was unknown.

First of all, the company did not have a website. An online search of the company’s name yielded no evidence of any other business ventures.

The only clue was in an American website for companies’ registration information, which showed that Eclipse’s registered address was a condominium in Hawaii.

It’s possible to incorporate a company in Hawaii without ever going in person. Compared to Japan, it’s relatively easy to establish a company.

We wondered if Eclipse was a shell company with no actual operations.

The three similar apps

If Eclipse was a shell company, who was the real operator of Album Collection?

Together with white-hat hackers, I analyzed Album Collection’s app data.

Examining aspects such as the app’s code and its Google Analytics ID allowed us to find two other apps with similar data to Album Collection: Photo Capsule and Video Container. When ordered chronologically by period in operation, we could see the following progression.

Photo Capsule→Video Container→Album Collection

Similar internal data meant there was continuity between the three apps. And, if we could find the operator of Photo Capsule and Video Container, we could also finally reach the operator of Album Collection.

With this in mind, we collected more data with the white-hat hackers. We discovered information on the operator of Photo Capsule and Video Container.

Both apps were operated by a Singapore-based company called Max Payment Gateway Services. Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta had served as its presidents.

The response from “Album Collection Support”

We wondered whether the real operators of Album Collection were Takahama and Nitta.

But how could we verify it? Eclipse, which is listed on Album Collection’s website as its operator, did not even have a company website, and we had no way of contacting it. There was also no information online about the company representative, William Leal, as far as I could tell.

We decided to send questions via the contact form on Album Collection’s website. It didn’t specify the department or person in charge of inquiries, but this was the only external point of contact.

Assuming that the app was really operated by Takahama and Nitta, we addressed our questions to them. We questioned the operators’ responsibility for the many victims of online sexual exploitation from their app and the fact that users have been convicted of crimes.

We also requested that Takahama and Nitta clarify any factual errors in our understanding of the situation.

We received a response, but it was signed “Album Collection Support,” not Takahama and Nitta.

Album Collection does not permit the sending or receiving of any illegal content. The operation of our service is as described in the Specified Commercial Transactions. We always remove reported content within 24 hours.

In addition, we inform the authorities about users who send or receive illegal content, as stated in our Terms of Use. Album Collection will alert users and remind them that sending and receiving illegal contents in our service is illegal, and we will also strengthen patrols.

Album Collection Support

In effect, the response claimed that, by emphasizing that they are working to prevent harm, the operator of Album Collection bears no responsibility.

But in light of the harm we have uncovered, this claim is unacceptable. The response provided no meaningful answers to any of our questions.

In our questions, we asked the operator to correct any factual errors in our understanding. However, the response did not correct us to say that Album Collection was operated by Eclipse representative William Leal, not Takahama and Nitta. Therefore, as a next step we began preparing to travel to Singapore to speak with Takahama.

Then came the aforementioned “inquiry” letter sent by certified mail from Takahama and Nitta’s lawyers. It requested Tansa remove all articles about both men.

“Operators from September 2014 to March 2020”

In their letter, the lawyers acknowledged that Takahama and Nitta were the operators of Album Collection.

‘Album Collection’ and its predecessor ‘Photo Capsule’ were operated jointly by the notifiers or solely by Mr. Nitta from September 2014 to March 2020 (the name ‘Photo Capsule’ was changed to ‘Album Collection’ during the period Mr. Nitta operated the app).”

So why were they demanding that we take the articles down?

“In March 2020, Mr. Nitta, who was solely operating ‘Album Collection’ at the time, transferred the business pertaining to ‘Album Collection’ to the current operator, Eclipse Incorporated, which is incorporated in Hawaii, USA. Since then, both notifiers have had no part in the operation of the app and have not received any revenue from it.”

In other words, the business had already been transferred to Eclipse by the time Tansa was writing our articles. The lawyers argued that since Takahama and Nitta were not the operators, they were irrelevant.

The following section of their letter discusses the “impression” that Tansa’s articles give (brackets added by Tansa).

“The statements [in Tansa’s articles] give readers of this series the impression, contrary to the facts, that the notifiers are still the operators of “Album Collection” and that the buying and selling of ‘sexual products’ on this app is a core pillar of their [Takahama and Nitta’s] business and that they facilitate the trade of child sexual abuse images and illegal sexual images.

“Done everything possible to prevent further harm”

The letter also acknowledged that Album Collection and its predecessor, Photo Capsule, were hotbeds of crime.

“Due to circumstances such as the fact that some users were using the app to buy and sell sexual images and videos and were suspected of criminal activity, [Takahama and Nitta] have received inquiries about such users from the police and other public agencies, as well as from representatives of victims.”

But even so, the lawyers claimed that Takahama and Nitta had not facilitated the trade in child sexual abuse images or other illegal sexual images. Rather, they claimed the opposite.

“The notifiers [Takahama and Nitta] have responded promptly to all inquiries and, in cases where criminal activity is suspected, have done everything possible to identify the perpetrators and prevent further harm, including providing all necessary information to the police. As a result, some users have been arrested.”

Six questions

The lawyers’ letter left me with six major questions.

1. Despite knowing that criminal activity was rampant on their apps, why did Takahama and Nitta continue to create similar apps without improving their mechanism, from Photo Capsule to Video Container to Album Collection?

2. The letter had not explained the background of Video Container. Why? In past records we examined, Nitta was listed as the operator. Video Container was well-known for buying and selling images that constitute digital sexual exploitation. When Nitta ended operation of Video Container, he even posted a link to Album Collection on Video Container’s website, directing users to it.

3. The lawyers explained that Album Collection was transferred to Eclipse in March 2020. Assuming this is true, did Nitta at the time communicate to Eclipse that it was necessary to prevent crime on the app? Trade in illegal images continued on Album Collection after March 2020.

4. If ownership had been transferred, what were the terms and how much was paid?

5. Takahama and Nitta claimed to have been involved in operating the apps for approximately five and a half years. The profits they earned as app operators during that time include money earned through users’ criminal activity and harm to victims. What did they do with that money?

6. We sent questions via Album Collection’s inquiry form in August 2023, during which we named Takahama and Nitta and questioned their responsibility. However, the response from “Album Collection Support” did not point out that Takahama and Nitta are not the current operators.

These were not our only questions.

The day after I received the letter from Takahama and Nitta’s lawyers, Tansa Editor-in-Chief Watanabe and I boarded our flight for Singapore as planned.

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on May 23, 2024.)

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