Transparency Report
November 1, 2014 – February 28, 2015
Released: April 2, 2015
Updated: March 29, 2016
Even though Snapchat has promoted user privacy and autonomy since its founding, we’ve only recently been able to systematically track and report requests for user information. Beginning in July 2015, we will publish a bi-annual Transparency Report, which will explore government requests we have received for users’ account information, government demands to remove users’ content, and requests to takedown content for alleged copyright violations.
But in the interest of transparency, we figured why wait until we had a full six months of data before publishing our first Transparency Report. So what you’ll see here in our inaugural report covers all the various requests we received from November 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015—and how often we honored those requests.
For more information about how we handle these sorts of requests, please take a look at our Law Enforcement Guide, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.
United States Criminal Legal Requests
Requests for User Information pursuant to U.S. legal process.
Reporting Period | Requests | Account Identifiers* | Percentage of requests where some data was produced |
---|---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | 375 | 666 | 92% |
Subpoena | 159 | 326 | 89% |
Pen Register Order | 0 | N/A | N/A |
Court Order | 24 | 33 | 88% |
Search Warrant | 172 | 286 | 96% |
Emergency | 20 | 21 | 85% |
Wiretap Order | 0 | N/A | N/A |
United States National Security Requests
Requests for User Information pursuant to national security legal process.
National Security | Requests | Account Identifiers* |
---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | ||
FISA | 0-499 | 0-499 |
NSL | 0 | N/A |
International Government Information Requests
Requests for User Information from government entities outside the United States.
Reporting Period | Requests | Account Identifiers* | Percentage of requests where some data was produced |
---|---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | 28 | 35 | 21% |
Belgium - Emergency | 1 | 2 | 100% |
Canada - Emergency | 3 | 3 | 100% |
France - Other | 9 | 9 | 0% |
Hungary - Other | 1 | 1 | 0% |
Ireland - Other | 2 | 2 | 0% |
Norway - Emergency | 1 | 2 | 100% |
Norway - Other | 1 | 1 | 0% |
United Kingdom - Emergency | 3 | 3 | 33% |
United Kingdom - Other | 7 | 12 | 0% |
Governmental Content Removal Requests
This category identifies demands by a government entity to remove content that would otherwise be permissible under our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
Reporting Period | Removal Requests | Percentage of requests where some content was removed |
---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | 0 | N/A |
Copyrighted Content Takedown Notices (DMCA)
This category reflects any valid takedown notices we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Reporting Period | DMCA Takedown Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was removed |
---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | 0 | N/A |
Reporting Period | DMCA Counter-Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated |
---|---|---|
November 1, 2014—February 28, 2015 | 0 | N/A |
* “Account Identifiers” reflects the number of identifiers (e.g. username, email address, phone number, etc.) specified by law enforcement in legal process when requesting user information. Some legal process may include more than one identifier. In some instances, multiple identifiers may identify a single account. In instances where a single identifier is specified in multiple requests, each instance is included.
Transparency Report Archives
- July 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021
- January 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021
- July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020
- January 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020
- July 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019
- January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019
- July 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018
- January 1, 2018 - June 30, 2018
- July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017
- January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017
- July 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016
- January 1, 2016 - June 30, 2016
- July 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
- January 1, 2015 - June 30, 2015
- November 1, 2014 - February 28, 2015