Album Collection’s former operator sold the app to a company he claimed to know little about and without establishing measures to prevent crime.

(Illustration by qnel)

Keisuke Nitta claimed he had managed Album Collection by himself. We interviewed Nitta at a coffee shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, on Dec. 28, 2023, while he was visiting Japan from Malaysia.

Nitta denied that the app had intentionally encouraged users to post sexual images.

However, we had found an online message board for Album Collection’s predecessor app that had facilitated the trade of child sexual abuse images. Data on the app and the message board indicated that they had likely been operated by the same company. Nevertheless, Nitta claimed not to know anything about it.

Illegal and sexual images dominated those traded on Album Collection. Nitta said he had decided to transfer the app after he came to feel there _as “no end” to the need to provide information about perpetrators to the police.

He transferred Album Collection to Eclipse Incorporated of Hawaii, USA. How had this transaction come about?

Introduced by the “system company”?

Eclipse Incorporated was listed as the operating company on Album Collection’s website. The company operated the app from early 2020 until Album Collection ceased operations in January 2024. The company representative was listed as “William Leal.”

However, there was very little information available on Eclipse’s website or social media. How had Nitta found the company?

“I was introduced by the system company,” he told us.

The “system company” in question was a company to which Nitta outsourced part of Album Collection’s operations; it provided technical support such as system updates.

“I couldn’t handle the response necessary for [Album Collection] any longer, so I talked to the system company and told them I wanted to discontinue the service,” Nitta explained.

“Then the system company said they would like to add countermeasures, such as deleting or banning these so-called illegal users, or some such functions, and continue operating the app. So I decided to transfer it.”

Transferred without a solution

In other words, the system company had insisted to Nitta — who was no longer about to handle the response to criminal activity — that it wanted to continue operating the app. When they did so, they promised to improve the app’s system to prevent illegal transactions.

However, the system company did not, in the end, become Album Collection’s operating company. The new operator was Eclipse, headed by William Leal.

However, even after 2020 — when Nitta says he transferred the app upon the company’s promise to make improvements — the proliferation of criminal activity and the spread of sexual images continued on Album Collection. Why had the system company told Nitta that it could prevent illegal activities?

“How did the system company propose to you that it could prevent crime by changing the app’s functions? What made them think it could be improved?” asked Tansa Editor-in-Chief Watanabe.

“I don’t think there’s any way for me to know that,” Nitta said.

“No, no, you discussed it with them. Did they say they could prevent crime through changing the system?” Watanabe pressed.

“No, not particularly… There… there has been no solution in the system,” Nitta replied.

“Isn’t this the same as Big Motor?”

Nitta transferred Album Collection to Eclipse without a concrete plan toward improving it, despite the fact that criminal behavior had become so commonplace on the app that he himself couldn’t handle it.

How much had Nitta known about Eclipse? It wan’t hard to imagine that harm would continue to spread through Album Collection if the app was transferred to a company not versed in dealing with criminal activity. It was even possible that the company would profit through encouraging users to post sexual images.

Watanabe asked what Eclipse’s president, William Leal, was like.

“I don’t know him well,” Nitta responded.

So the system company acting as an intermediary had handled everything, and Nitta had sold Album Collection to someone he didn’t know well?

“Hm, well, I guess you could say that,” Nitta said. “Because [Eclipse] said they wanted this kind of system.”

We suggested that it was irresponsible to transfer a business that was harming many, including children, without a way to prevent further crime therein. However, in response, Nitta cited the case of used car company Big Motor, which had been acquired by Itochu Corporation after the former’s fraudulent insurance claims came to light.

“Even in the case of Big Motor, the company has already been sold. It’s not like Big Motor was sold only after [the issue] was fixed,” Nitta argued. “Isn’t this the same thing [as Big Motor]?”

“If you’re going to make me out to be some sort of villain…”

Nitta said he had been unfamiliar with Eclipse. However, he acknowledged that he had met the president, Leal, once — although he claimed it wasn’t during discussions to transfer Album Collection. He had spoken with Leal in Japanese.

Although we asked Nitta what they had discussed, he didn’t give a clear answer, saying things like “Nothing in particular” and “It was just a coincidence that we met.”

In the middle of his vague answers, Nitta suddenly said, “I remember you said that you would use what I tell you in your articles without my specific permission. So this is all you’re going to get from me.”

“If you’re going to make me out to be some sort of villain…” he trailed off.

“The document you sent us through your lawyer noted that you wanted to stop the harm caused by Album Collection,” Watanabe rejoined. “We need to know if you made a thorough assessment as to whether Ecliple’s Mr. Leal would operate Album Collection responsibly.”

However, Nitta continued to insist he wasn’t obligated to respond.

He never gave us details on the background and selling price for which he had transferred Album Collection to Eclipse, nor about Leal or the system company that had brokered the transfer.

In contact with “the Japanese person at Eclipse”

In order to find answers, the only thing to do was to interview Eclipse and its president, Leal, directly.

Toward the end of the interview, Watanabe asked Nitta: “Could you please tell Eclipse’s Mr. Leal and the Japanese system company that introduced him to you that you are being interviewed by Tansa and NHK and that we would like to interview them as well?”

Until then, we had sent numerous requests for comment to the email address listed on Album Collection’s website, without receiving any substantive answers. When we sent questions addressed to Nitta and Kenichi Takahama, who were involved in the app’s management, and asked if our understanding contained any factual errors, Album Collection did not deny them.

“Actually, I already talked to Eclipse,” Nitta told us. “Given the current situation, and the fact that we already handed over [Album Collection] to them, we can’t know what’s going on. I already said to them that I will tell you to contact them directly.”

Had Nitta said this to Leal?

“No, it was someone else,” Nitta replied. “I don’t know if he’s actually an employee or not. I’ve never seen proof of employment.”

Nitta said the contact point was Japanese, and that he was in charge of Album Collection’s customer support. Although he “wasn’t sure of his actual role, whether management or something else,” Nitta said that his communication with Eclipse was conducted through this person.

This person would most likely handle our interview request, Nitta told us. However, he didn’t share the individual’s name or contact information.

We went to Hawaii

On Dec. 31, 2023, three days after we interviewed Nitta, Album Collection announced on its website that it was ending its services. New member registration and image uploading ended that day, with all other functions terminating on Jan. 31, 2024.

Following this announcement, we again sent questions to Album Collection, this time addressed to Eclipse President William Leal and “the person in charge in Japan.” The latter was because Nitta said he had informed Eclipse’s Japanese staff member about our reporting.

In our questions, based on our interviews with Nitta and Takahama, we asked the identity of the operator responsible for Album Collection. We also asked if they would apologize to and compensate victims following Album Collection’s termination.

Album Collection sent the following response via email.

Here is our response to your inquiry.

 

Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta are in no way connected with our company’s service.

 

In addition, the operation of our service is as described on our website, based on the Specified Commercial Transactions.

 

Album Collection is a service for sending and receiving files such as photos and videos between individuals; as stated in our terms of use, sending and receiving “content including obscene images and videos (including illustrations and paintings)” is prohibited.

 

When we receive reports of files being sent or received by some users that appear to be in violation of the terms of use, we respond by immediately deleting the files, banning the users, etc. In addition, all items reported using the “terms of use violation report” form are automatically deleted, as are items reported via the contact form.

 

We respond to misuse of our service with bans, prohibiting new registrations, restricting IP addresses, etc. In the event of an official inquiry from a public institution, we disclose the relevant information and respond to the inquiry as requested.

 

Album Collection is terminating its service on Jan. 31, 2024.

This did not answer our questions. I contacted them again, but this time there was no reply. I wondered whether they were trying to put an end to the issue by ceasing operations.

However, the harm caused by Album Collection will not end.

Illegal and sexual images bought and sold on Album Collections continue to be traded on different platforms. Like Eclipse, myriad platforms maintain a hotbed of traffic in illegal images without revealing the operators’ identities, leaving the harm unrectified.

We needed to pursue this issue further.

Together with the NHK reporters, we set our next reporting trip — to Hawaii, where Eclipse was based.

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on June 27, 2024.)

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