Information for Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement and the Hoddy Community

At Hoddy Inc., we take our commitment to protecting Hoddy users from misuse of our platform very seriously. As part of that, we work with law enforcement and governmental agencies to promote safety on our platform.

Hoddy is committed to assisting law enforcement while respecting the privacy and rights of our users. Once we have received and established the validity of a legal request for Hoddy account records, we respond in compliance with applicable law and privacy requirements.

General Information for Law Enforcement

These operational guidelines are provided for law enforcement and governmental officials who are seeking to request Hoddy account records (i.e., Hoddy user data) from Hoddy Inc. Additional information relating to law enforcement requests can be found in our Law Enforcement Guide, where you’ll find details regarding possible availability of Hoddy account records and the type of legal process required to compel disclosure of that data.

U.S. Legal Process

As a U.S. company, Hoddy requires U.S. law enforcement and governmental agencies to follow U.S. law in order for Hoddy to disclose any Hoddy account records.

Our ability to disclose Hoddy account records is generally governed by the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq. The SCA mandates that we disclose certain Hoddy account records only in response to specific types of legal process, including subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants.

Non-U.S. Legal Process

Non-U.S. law enforcement and governmental agencies generally must rely on the mechanics of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or letters rogatory processes to request Hoddy account records from Hoddy. As a courtesy to non-U.S. law enforcement, we will review and respond to properly submitted preservation requests while the MLAT or letters rogatory process is undertaken.

Hoddy may, at its discretion, provide limited Hoddy account records to law enforcement and governmental agencies outside the U.S. in response to legal process that is duly authorized in the requesting country and that seeks non-content information such as basic subscriber information and IP data.

Emergency Disclosure Requests

Consistent with 18 U.S.C. §§ 2702(b)(8) and 2702(c)(4), we are able to voluntarily disclose Hoddy account records when we believe in good faith that an emergency posing a threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury requires the immediate disclosure of such records.

Information for law enforcement regarding how to submit Emergency Disclosure Requests to Hoddy can be found in our Law Enforcement Guide. Emergency Disclosure Requests to Hoddy must be submitted by a sworn law enforcement official and must come from an official law enforcement (or governmental) email domain.

Data Retention Periods

Current information about data retention policies for messages, stories, as well as other useful information, may be found on our Support Site.

Preservation Requests

We honor formal requests from law enforcement to preserve information in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). Upon receiving such a request, we will attempt to preserve any available Hoddy account records that are associated with any properly identified Hoddy user(s) and that are within the date range specified in the request. We will maintain any such preserved records in an offline file for up to 90 days, and will extend that preservation for one additional 90-day period with a formal extension request. Please see Section IV of our Law Enforcement Guide for more information on accurately locating a Hoddy account.

As a courtesy for non-U.S. law enforcement, Hoddy may, at its discretion, preserve available Hoddy account records for up to a year while the MLAT or letters rogatory process is undertaken. At its discretion, Hoddy may extend such a preservation for one additional six-month period with a formal extension request.

Child Safety Concerns

In instances where we’re made aware of potential child exploitation content on our platform, our Trust & Safety team reviews the allegations and, if appropriate, reports such situations to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC will then review those reports and coordinate with both global law enforcement agencies.

User Consent

Hoddy does not disclose user data based solely on user consent. Users seeking to download their own data may find additional information on our Support Site.

User Notice Policy

Hoddy’s policy is to notify our users when we receive legal process seeking disclosure of their records. We recognize two exceptions to this policy. First, we will not notify users of legal process where providing notice is prohibited by a court order issued under 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b) or by other legal authority. Second, where we, in our sole discretion, believe an exceptional circumstance exists — such as cases involving child exploitation, the sale of lethal drugs, or the threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury — we reserve the right to forgo user notice.

Testimony

Records disclosures made to U.S. law enforcement will be accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity, which should eliminate the need for the testimony of a custodian of records. Should you believe that a custodian of records is still necessary to provide testimony, we require domestication of all state subpoenas pursuant to the Uniform Act to Secure the Attendance of a Witness from Without a State in Criminal Proceedings, Cal. Penal Code § 1334, et seq.

Hoddy is unable to provide expert witness testimony or testimony outside the United States.

How to Submit Requests

Law enforcement officials must address their requests to Hoddy Inc. Please be sure to identify the Hoddy username of the requested Hoddy account. If you are unable to locate a username, we can try — with varying degrees of success — to locate the account with a phone number, email address, or hexadecimal User ID. Please see Section IV of our Law Enforcement Guide for more information on accurately locating a Hoddy account.

Law enforcement and governmental agencies who have access to Hoddy’s Law Enforcement Service Site (LESS) should submit legal process and preservation requests to Hoddy via the LESS portal at: less.hoddy.com. In LESS, members of law enforcement and governmental agencies can create an account for the purpose of submitting requests and checking the status of submissions.

We also accept preservation requests, service of legal process, and general questions from law enforcement via email at lawenforcement

@hoddy

.com.

Receipt of law enforcement requests by these means is for convenience only and does not waive any objections or legal rights of Hoddy or its users.

Requests from Non-Governmental Entities

Please note that the above methods are only appropriate for law enforcement officials.

If you are contacting Hoddy on behalf of an entity that is not associated with law enforcement and seeking to serve a criminal defense discovery demand, please note that such legal process must be personally served on Hoddy or our designated third-party agent (unless issued or domesticated within California). Out-of-state criminal defense discovery demands must be domesticated in California as required by law. If you are seeking to serve a civil discovery demand, please note that Hoddy does not accept service of such legal process through email; civil discovery demands must be personally served on Hoddy or our designated third-party agent. Out-of-state civil discovery demands must further be domesticated in California.

Guidance for Users, Parents, and Educators

At Hoddy, we take our commitment to protecting Hoddy users from misuse of our platform very seriously. As part of that, we work with law enforcement and governmental agencies to promote safety on our platform.

Guidance Around Users’ Privacy Concerns

How to Promote Safety

While it’s true that we value ephemerality, some account information may be retrieved by law enforcement through valid legal process. At times, this could mean assisting law enforcement with preventing illegal activities and actioning accounts for violations of Hoddy’s Terms of Service. We also assist with exigent situations and imminent threats to life, such as school shooting threats, bomb threats, and missing persons cases.

Share with your community how they can report to Hoddy!

In-App Reporting: You can report inappropriate content to us right in the app! Just press and hold on the message, then tap the ‘Report’ button. Let us know what’s going on — we’ll do our best to help!
Email Us: You can also email a report to us right through our Support site.

Requesting Assistance

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please contact your local police as soon as possible.

Transparency Report

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