PURPOSE: To prevent unjust accesses by adding a means to a main device to decide a terminal equipment of a communication receiver together with a means which stores the result of the decision and the data which specifies the information retrieved by the terminal equipment.

CONSTITUTION: A retrieving data memory part 16 stores the retrieving data which specifies the picture information supplied from an input part 11 in response to the storing position of the picture information of a memory medium 15. A central control part 12 retrieves the part 16 in accordance with the retrieving instruction received from the part 11 and reads out the storing position of said information of the medium 15 to read out the corresponding information out of the medium 15 based on said information storing position. A secret protection medium 15 based on said information storing position. A secret protection data memory part 17 stores the data to identify plural terminal equipments 2, i.e., the permission/inhibition data on the access to the memory information on a main device 1. An access state memory part 19 stores each terminal equipment that performed a retrieving action, the file number of the read-out information, the retrieving date, and the deciding result of a password.