Japan to probe Line let after reports it let Chinese engineers access user data

FILE PHOTO: The logo of free messaging app Line is pictured on a smartphone and the company's stuffed toy in this photo illustration taken in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 23, 2014. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/Illustration

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government said on Wedneseday it would investigate messaging app Line, owned by SoftBank Corp's Z Holdings Corp, after Japanese media reports that it let Chinese engineers at a Shanghai affiliate access Japanese users' data without informing them.

Under Japanese privacy regulations, companies have to let users know when their personal data is sent overseas, public broadcaster pubic broadcaster NHK and other local media reported earlier.