Law Enforcement Guidelines

1. How to contact us

Send requests from an official government email address to [email protected]. We accept requests in English. Requests sent to other addresses may be delayed. This address is for authorities only; messages from others will not get a reply.

2. What data we may hold

We keep data only for short periods. Depending on timing, we may hold:

• Account data: username, display name, sign-in email, sign-up date, birth year, country and profile details.
• Technical data: IP addresses, guest ID and device identifiers (device records are deleted 1 year after last use).
• Friend messages: messages between friends, deleted after 90 days.
• Recent chats: who a signed-in user chatted with, for 7 days.
• Reports: reported messages and video frames, for 30 days, unless preserved.
• Ban records: until 1 year after a ban ends.

We do not record or store video or voice calls. Stranger chat text that was not reported is deleted 30 minutes after the chat ends and cannot be recovered.

3. Legal process

• We disclose user data only in response to valid legal process issued under applicable law, such as a subpoena, court order or search warrant, or an equivalent order recognised in our jurisdiction.
• Requests from outside our jurisdiction may need to go through a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT), letter rogatory or another recognised mechanism, such as an EU production order where applicable.
• Requests must be specific and include: the issuing authority, the officer’s name, badge or ID number and contact details; the legal basis; the username, user link, ban ID or other identifier; the date and time range; and the data requested.
• We may push back on requests that are overly broad, unclear or do not meet legal requirements.

4. Preservation requests

We will preserve available data for 90 days on receipt of an official preservation request while you obtain formal legal process, and may extend this once on request. Because retention periods are short, please send preservation requests as soon as possible.

5. Emergency requests

If you believe there is an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury, email [email protected] with the subject “EMERGENCY” and describe the emergency, the person at risk, the identifiers involved and why the information is needed urgently. We may disclose information without legal process when we believe in good faith that it is necessary to prevent such harm.

6. User notice

Our policy is to notify users of requests for their data before disclosure, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so, or notice would be counterproductive, for example in cases involving child exploitation or an emergency.

7. Child safety

We proactively report apparent child sexual abuse material to NCMEC. Authorities following up on a CyberTipline report should reference the report number in their request.