Snapchat Transparency Reports are released twice a year. These reports provide important insight into the volume and nature of governmental requests for Snapchatters' account information and other legal notifications.

Since 2015, our policy has been to notify Snapchatters when we receive legal process seeking their account information, with exceptions for cases where we are legally prohibited from doing so, or when we believe there are exceptional circumstances (like child exploitation or an imminent risk of death or bodily injury).

At Snap, we support industry-wide efforts to improve content moderation reporting and transparency practices. We recognize that technology platforms facilitate content creation, sharing, and retention in vastly different ways. As our platform evolves, so too, will Snap Transparency Reports, laying the groundwork to publish new categories of information to inform our community in the future.

For more information about how we handle law enforcement data requests, please take a look at our Law Enforcement GuidePrivacy 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

July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

5,094

8,528

88%

Subpoena

1,401

2,573

89%

PRTT

23

26

91%

Court Order

151

236

82%

Search Warrant

3,151

5,221

88%

EDR

356

436

83%

Wiretap Order

12

36

100%

Summons

76

151

99%

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

7/1/2017 - 12/31/2017

193

206

81%

304

374

0%

Argentina

0

N/A

N/A

5

6

0%

Australia

6

6

33%

14

12

0%

Austria

0

N/A

N/A

0

N/A

N/A

Brazil

0

N/A

N/A

0

N/A

N/A

Canada

74

79

81%

3

2

0%

Denmark

2

2

50%

13

15

0%

France

6

5

50%

61

74

0%

Germany

1

1

100%

23

26

0%

India

0

N/A

N/A

12

15

0%

Ireland

0

N/A

N/A

1

1

0%

Israel

1

1

0%

1

0

0%

Netherlands

2

3

100%

2

2

0%

Norway

3

3

100%

14

20

0%

Poland

2

2

100%

3

1

0%

Spain

0

N/A

N/A

1

1

0%

Sweden

1

1

100%

13

11

0%

Switzerland

4

4

75%

4

8

0%

UAE

0

N/A

N/A

0

N/A

N/A

UK

91

99

77%

134

180

1%

United States National Security Requests
Requests for User Information pursuant to national security legal process.

National Security

Requests

Account Identifiers*

July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

NSLs and FISA Orders/Directives

O-249

0-249

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, 2018 - June 30, 2018

3

100%

Saudi Arabia

1

100%

United Arab Emirates

1

100%

Bahrain

1

100%

Note: Although we do not formally track when we remove content that violates our policies when a request has been made by a governmental entity, we believe it is an extremely rare occurrence. When we believe it is necessary to restrict content that is deemed unlawful in a particular country, but does not otherwise violate our policies, we seek to restrict access to it geographically when possible, rather than remove it globally.

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

July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

48

37.5%

Reporting Period

DMCA Counter-Notices

Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated

July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017

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.