Transparency Report

July 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018

Released: May 15, 2019

Updated: June 7, 2019

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 November 15, 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. In doing so, however, 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. We support the spirit of the Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation in creating a framework for best practices in content moderation.

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.

Category	Requests	Account Identifiers	Percentage of requests where some data was produced
Total	6,828	11,188	87%
Subpoena	1,624	3,231	83%
PRTT	54	76	94%
Court Order	175	679	87%
Search Warrant	4,091	6,097	92%
EDR	801	911	69%
Wiretap Order	6	15	100%
Summons	77	179	75%

International Government Information Requests

Requests for User Information from government entities outside the United States.

Country	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
Total	400	477	71%	469	667	0%
Argentina	0	0	N/A	5	5	0%
Australia	9	11	33%	13	29	0%
Austria	0	0	N/A	6	10	0%
Belgium	0	0	N/A	1	8	0%
Brazil	0	0	N/A	6	8	0%
Canada	120	134	82%	8	14	13%
Columbia	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Cyprus	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Denmark	0	0	N/A	10	11	0%
Estonia	0	0	N/A	2	2	0%
France	32	39	56%	73	108	0%
Germany	15	40	67%	67	96	0%
Hungary	0	0	N/A	1	13	0%
India	6	7	50%	29	36	0%
Ireland	0	0	N/A	4	5	0%
Israel	2	2	0%	2	4	0%
Lithuania	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Mexico	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Netherlands	6	7	33%	0	0	N/A
Norway	7	8	86%	21	39	0%
Poland	1	1	0%	2	3	0%
Slovenia	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Spain	0	0	N/A	1	1	0%
Sweden	6	8	50%	19	28	0%
Switzerland	9	14	56%	7	7	0%
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0%	1	1	0%
United Kingdom	186	205	74%	186	234	1%

United States National Security Requests

Requests for User Information pursuant to national security legal process.

National Security	Requests	Account Identifiers*
NSLs and FISA Orders/Directives	O-249	250-499

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.

Removal Requests	Percentage of requests where some content was removed
0	N/A

Note: 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.

This category identifies demands by a government entity to remove content that would be a violation under our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.

Country	Number of requests	Number of posts removed or restricted or number of accounts suspended
Australia	25	27
United Kingdom	17	20
United States	4	4

Copyrighted Content Takedown Notices (DMCA)

This category reflects any valid takedown notices we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

DMCA Takedown Notices	Percentage of requests where some content was removed
60	45%

DMCA Counter-Notices	Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated
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.