Law Enforcement Guidelines

These guidelines describe how United States law-enforcement agencies and courts may serve legal process on Want, what data we retain, and how emergency requests are handled. This is not legal advice to any requesting party and is not a substitute for consulting with your own counsel. Want reserves all rights.

1. How to serve process

Legal process may be served on Want by any of the following methods:

1. Email (preferred for expedited handling): [NEXT_PUBLIC_LEA_CONTACT_EMAIL not set]. Attach the signed, dated process as a PDF and include your agency, badge or bar number, direct callback number, and case reference.
2. Mail: [NEXT_PUBLIC_LEA_CONTACT_NAME not set], [NEXT_PUBLIC_LEA_CONTACT_ADDRESS not set].

Service by any other means (social media, unrelated support inboxes, or in-app messages) is not accepted. Acknowledging receipt does not constitute a waiver of any objection.

2. Legal standards for disclosure

Want discloses user information consistent with the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. 2701–2712) and other applicable law. As a general matter:

1. Subpoena (grand jury, trial, or administrative): we may disclose basic subscriber information — account handle, email on file, date of account creation, IP address at signup and for the most recent sessions, and general billing information about the Posting Fee. Subpoenas do not obtain the contents of communications.
2. Court order under 18 U.S.C. 2703(d): in addition to basic subscriber information, we may disclose non-content transactional records, including message metadata and posting history.
3. Search warrant: issued upon a showing of probable cause under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 41 or an equivalent state warrant, is required to compel disclosure of the contents of user communications, stored files, and reference photos.
4. Civil subpoena: we require valid civil process and reasonable notice to the affected user before we respond, subject to the exceptions in 18 U.S.C. 2702. We will object to overbroad or improper civil process.

3. Preservation requests

Under 18 U.S.C. 2703(f), a governmental entity may request preservation of records for ninety (90) days, extendable one time for another ninety (90) days. Send preservation requests to legal@wantie.app with the account identifiers (handle, email, or user ID) and the time range. Preservation does not itself compel disclosure; separate legal process is required.

4. Emergency disclosure requests

Under 18 U.S.C. 2702(b)(8) and 2702(c)(4), Want may voluntarily disclose information to law enforcement when we believe in good faith that an emergency involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury requires disclosure without delay. To submit an emergency request:

1. Email emergency@wantie.app with the subject line beginning “EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE REQUEST.”
2. Send from an official government email address (.gov or agency domain).
3. Include: the nature of the emergency, why disclosure without delay is necessary, the account identifiers, the specific information requested, your name, agency, badge or ID number, and a callback number we can verify.

Want is the sole judge of whether the requesting agency has established a qualifying emergency. Misuse of this channel will be reported.

5. Data we retain

Data availability varies. In general, Want may retain some or all of the following, for the retention periods described in our Privacy Policy:

1. Account handle, email, and authentication provider identifiers.
2. Signup IP address and, for recent sessions, IP addresses and rough geolocation.
3. Wants, offers, messages, and reference photos posted through the Service.
4. Moderation records: reports received, actions taken, and reasons.
5. Stripe payment records for the Posting Fee (Stripe holds the card data; Want holds the transaction reference and status).
6. Server logs covering the recent request history.

Want does not currently offer end-to-end encryption for messages, does not provide real-time interception, and does not have a wiretap capability. Want does not verify user identity.

6. Notice to users

Want’s policy is to notify affected users of legal process seeking their information, together with a copy of the process, to allow them to seek to quash or narrow it, unless (a) prohibited by law or court order (for example, a nondisclosure order under 18 U.S.C. 2705), (b) an exception under 18 U.S.C. 2702 applies, or (c) we determine in good faith that notice would create a risk of injury to any person, of destruction of evidence, or of witness tampering. Nondisclosure orders must include an issuing-authority signature and a duration.

7. Formatting requirements

1. All process must be in English or accompanied by a certified English translation.
2. Identify each account with as much specificity as possible: the user handle, email, or, if known, the internal user ID from a prior response.
3. State the time range for the records sought.
4. Provide a reasonable compliance date. Rush handling for non-emergency requests is not guaranteed.

8. Reimbursement of costs

To the extent authorized by 18 U.S.C. 2706 or applicable state law, Want may seek reimbursement for the reasonable costs of searching for, assembling, reproducing, and delivering records in response to legal process. Emergency and grand-jury requests are generally exempt. A cost estimate is available on request.

9. Testimony and authentication

Records produced in response to valid process are accompanied, on request, by a certification under Federal Rules of Evidence 902(11) or 902(13) that is intended to establish authenticity without the need for live testimony. Requests for live testimony must be served with adequate advance notice and are handled by outside counsel.

10. Contact

Legal process and preservation: legal@wantie.app.
Emergency disclosure: emergency@wantie.app.