.
.
.
.
We want our users to know that CounterSocial allows them to easily, enjoyably, safely, and securely communicate with close friends and family. Owing to the nature of the platform, it's essential that we carefully protect the privacy of our users. In principle, we don't provide users' information to any third parties. User information is also not used for any other purposes that exceed the necessary boundaries of the services we provide. We don't respond to such external requests for user information and we implement a number of security measures to prevent any unintentional breach of privacy. We don't in any way support any activities that unfairly threaten the human rights of our users, such as eavesdropping or censorship by state authorities. These principles and policies apply not only to CounterSocial Core, but to all of the services we provide.
However, we do make exceptions to the above when responding to investigations from law enforcement agencies. When we receive a request for disclosure from law enforcement, we may provide information (that we have available) required for the investigation, within an appropriate scope, in limited scenarios when compliance is appropriate per applicable law.
The following is our stance concerning our response to law enforcement agencies.
In which circumstances will information be disclosed to a law enforcement agency?
We conduct our operations in accordance with United States law.
Under United States law, if deemed necessary for the investigation of an offense, a prosecutor, a prosecutor's assistant officer, or a judicial police official may perform search and seizure under a warrant issued by a judge, and the requested businesses are obliged to comply with the court order.
In addition, the law enforcement agency may ask for a report on necessary matters relating to the investigation.
Furthermore, there may be circumstances considered appropriate for unavoidable disclosure of information in terms of averting a clear and present danger to prevent present danger to human life or body, such as in the case of the need to protect life from the threat of suicide or abduction.
In this way, we may respond to the law enforcement agency within the scope assessed appropriate, and only in the case of an order for seizure for investigation, if there is a request for cooperation with an investigation with a legal basis (such as Investigation-Related Inquiry in the United States), and if judged that it would avert present danger.
These laws not only apply to us but similarly apply to other business operators in the United States.
What does it mean to respond to a law enforcement agency?
When we respond to a law enforcement agency, we will submit the information registered by our services (including usage data) for a relevant person such as a suspect or victim to the law enforcement agency, such as the police or other federal agency, to aid in solving cases when a crime has been committed or a person's life, body, or property are threatened only where the above apply. When responding to a law enforcement agency, we will not submit or provide information on unspecified users.
Why do we respond to law enforcement agencies?
We respond to help in the apprehension of suspects, to mitigate damages, and to prevent crime, such as fraud, murder, assault, child exploitataion, human trafficking, or other criminal offenses committed in whole or in part through our services in the interest of protecting human life, body, or property.
As a service provider, we have a responsibility to offer a safe and secure environment for users to feel at ease using our services. As explained below, we may respond to law enforcement agencies only within the restraints of the law and in cases that meet our strict standards.
international requests
We handle requests from overseas in accordance with frameworks for international investigation cooperation such as mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) with specific countries. This includes instances where a United States Law Enforcement Agency may receive a request via the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), Interpol, or the United States State Department may receive a request via an embassy. The same rules regarding warrants and verification by privacy protection organizations and other handling rules apply. Information disclosure requests from Five-Eyes (FVEY) intelligence partners will be expedited.
What is the process for deciding whether to respond?
After we receive a request from a law enforcement agency or after recognizing that a clear and present danger requires action, our privacy protection officer shall immediately and thoroughly examine the legal, security, and governmental details of the case to verify the propriety of the investigation and whether to respond from the standpoint of legality and the protection of users. We will refuse the request at this point if there is legal inadequacy for examination in the case of a request from a law enforcement agency. In the event that the scope of the request is too broad for the purpose of the investigation, we will request the investigating body to provide an explanation of its intent. Should the explanation be insufficient, we will not respond to the request for cooperation. In addition, should the user data that is the target of the investigation be already deleted (such as ADMS or exploding messages), we will explain to the authorities that the information has already been removed from our infrastructure.
.
We will only respond to the law enforcement agency in accordance with strict information handling rules, and only when a thorough verification confirms the legalities and propriety of the investigation. Information provided to the law enforcement agency shall only be in accordance with our strict internal procedures. The law enforcement agency shall not be permitted to eavesdrop or build a backdoor against our user privacy protection system. Furthermore, we do not comply with requests in which the cause of the crime is not related to the use of our services which has not yet turned out to be a criminal act and based on the grounds of abstract risk or a request for censorship.
What kind of information might we disclose?
Provision is strictly limited to information required for the relevant investigation and or trial. When internal review processes determine the law enforcement agency's request in accordance with such as a warrant is too broad for its purpose of use, we will ask the law enforcement agency for additional explanation, and reject the request unless we find there are reasonable grounds. We do not submit the data of unspecified users who are irrelevant to the investigation. The following data regarding specified user accounts may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies, where we have it available:
.
- • Registered account data (profile image, display name, email address, unique ID, date of registration, etc.)
- • Information used to register for paid services (address, date applied, etc.)
- • Communication meta-history of specified users (message delivery date, IP address of sender, etc.)
- • Specific user text communications content*
.
* Only when end-to-end or OTR encryption has not been applied or is not available, if end-to-end or OTR encryption has been enabled, or is available, we cannot decrypt/extract the contents of text chats, so no disclosure of the contents of text chats is possible. Even if unencrypted text chats are disclosed, as per our privacy policy, only up to 90 days of text chats will be disclosed. Only when receiving an effective warrant issued by the court. Video / picture / files / location information / call audio and other such data can not be disclosed.
.
When a request is received after the temporary storage period required for service operation is elapsed, we will be unable to provide said information because it has already been deleted.
Do we notify a user PRIOR to disclosing information to law enforcement agencies?
No.
Do we notify a user AFTER to disclosing information to law enforcement agencies?
The user will not be notified if doing so is forbidden by law, or if doing so would be inappropriate given the facts of the investigation (ex: threats of suicide or criminal activity), or if it would otherwise be deemed unreasonable. In other cases the user may, or may not, be notified indirectly by way of our site-wide
Warrant Canary.
Request types
Investigations in which we may cooperate include the following:
.
- • Personal injury (murder, bodily injury, etc.)
- • Monetary damage (fraud, blackmail, etc.)
- • Child abuse (child prostitution, child pornography, etc.)
- • Illegal trade (drug trading, bank account fraud, money laundering, etc.)
- • Threats (suicide threats, murder threats, bomb threats, etc.)
- • Terrorism-related activity.
- • Human Trafficking.
I'm a law enforcement officer or agent what is the process?
Your initial point of contact is [email protected] - you must email your request from an official government or state TLD domain. It will be vetted to ensure it is a legitimate request from a legitimate agency. Information disclosure requests from Five-Eyes (FVEY) intelligence partners will be expedited.
.
Changes to this Law Enforcement Request policy
We will continually implement new initiatives that will enhance the transparency of how we treat and handle user information.
If we decide to change our Law Enforcement Request Policy, which we reserve the right to do so for any reason at any time, those changes will be reflected on this page.
.
SEE RELATED: Terms of Service and
Privacy Policy and
DMCA Policy and
GDPR Policy and
CCPA Policy and
LEA Policy and
License
.
.
This document was last updated May 19 2023.