Every six months, we publish our Snapchat Transparency Report. As we said in our inaugural report, we think these regular scorecards promote user privacy and autonomy by disclosing the nature and number of governmental requests for users' account information, demands from various governments to remove users' content, and takedown requests for alleged copyright infringement. And, of course, our reports always note how often we honor those requests.
For more information about how we handle law enforcement data 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 |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 2015 | 762 | 1,286 | 86% |
| Subpoena | 353 | 609 | 84% |
| Pen Register Order | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| Court Order | 39 | 66 | 77% |
| Search Warrant | 331 | 568 | 91% |
| Emergency | 38 | 43 | 82% |
| 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* |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 2015 | | |
| FISA | 0-499 | 0-499 |
| NSL | 0-499 | 0-499 |
International Government Information Requests
Requests for User Information from government entities outside the United States.
| Reporting Period | Emergency Requests | Account Identifiers for Emergency Requests | Percentage of emergency requests where some data was produced | Other Information Requests | Account Identifiers for Other Requests | Percentage of other information request where some data was produced |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 2015 | 17 | 24 | 76% | 73 | 93 | 0% |
| Australia | 1 | 5 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Canada | 3 | 3 | 100% | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| Czech Republic | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Denmark | 0 | N/A | N/A | 3 | 3 | 0% |
| France | 1 | 1 | 0% | 37 | 50 | 0% |
| India | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Ireland | 0 | N/A | N/A | 2 | 2 | 0% |
| New Zealand | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Norway | 5 | 5 | 100% | 5 | 8 | 0% |
| Spain | 0 | N/A | N/A | 3 | 3 | 0% |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | 100% | 3 | 3 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 6 | 9 | 50% | 16 | 20 | 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 |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 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 |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 2015 | 0 | N/A |
| Reporting Period | DMCA Counter-Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated |
|---|
| January 1, 2015—June 30, 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.
