Contact TikTok & Request TikTok Data by Law Enforcement Agencies
In this blog, you will learn how to contact TikTok and request data from TikTok by Law Enforcement Agencies
For Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau
If you are a law enforcement officer with the main duties of Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, and other countries or regions, please read this policy. If you follow the policy below, your request will not be processed.
For Russian Law Enforcement
If you are a law enforcement officer with primary responsibility for Russia, please see this policy.
If you follow the policy below, your request will not be processed.
These operational strategies are for reference by law enforcement officials who wish to receive information about TikTok user activity. TikTok Inc. (hereinafter “TikTok” or “Company”) may modify these policies at any time without notice.
TikTok’s policy in response to law enforcement requests
TikTok strives to support law enforcement while respecting users’ privacy and rights. In order to obtain non-public user information, law enforcement agencies must provide the appropriate legal documents needed for the type of information required.
What information is available on legal requests?
The following information is available in response to executable law enforcement requests:
- Subscriber Information
When a user signs up for a new account or modifies other applicable fields in the application, user account information (“Account Information”) is collected. Please note that some of the categories listed below are not required to create an account. Account information may include username first name and email address phone number device model account creation date and IP address used to create the account. 2703 (d) or warrant. - Video Content
The TikTok app allows users to create and upload videos (“Videos”). These videos can be stored privately (“Private Videos”) or published in the TikTok application and made available to registered users (“Public Videos”). Unless a user considers an account to be a private account or a public video has been deleted, public videos are made available to law enforcement agencies through the TikTok app and therefore will not be provided through a data request, this information is only part of the warranty. - User interaction
The TikTok application enables users to interact with each other through annotations on videos, direct messages, and live chat. This information is provided only as a guarantee - Logs Data
TikTok stores logs that can contain account login and logout metadata, user-generated content (such as file creation and modification date), and in-app communications (such as information about/from and timestamps). The log does not contain the actual content of any files or in-app messages created by the user. This information is available under a U.S. court order under 18. Section 2703 (d) or authorization order.
What information must I include about the user in the request?
If you need information about a specific user of our service, you must provide the username of the corresponding account. We could not find an account based on the real name, email address, phone number, or other account information.
What details must I provide to the requesting party?
Any request must include contact information for the authorized law enforcement officer who submitted the request, including:
- Require agent name;
- Require agency name and badge/identification number;
- Ask the employer to designate the email address of the agent;
- The telephone contact of the application agent, including all extensions;
- The mailing address of the requesting agent (mailboxes are not accepted); and
- Request response date (see details below for emergency requirements).
Can TikTok meet maintenance requirements?
Yes. TikTok will retain user information for 90 days in response to a formal request. TikTok will retain the information for a further 90 days after receiving a formal request formally requesting an extension of the retention period. We are not authorized to process multiple renewal requests for another 90 days. If TikTok does not receive a formal court action against the information received before the end of the retention period, the retained information may be deleted at the end of the retention period.
The retention request must be signed on a law enforcement stationery and contain information about the specific username to be retained. In addition, the submission must include a description of the steps required to obtain a court order or other legal process to obtain the required data.