Law Enforcement and Subpoenas

Policy on Subpoenas for User Records

As disclosed in the Starbloom Privacy Policy, Starbloom maintains information concerning users and users’ activities on this platform. Such information is generally not shared with the public or third parties to the extent it identifies a particular individual, except under certain instances described more fully in our Privacy Policy.

Included in the instances where we may share otherwise confidential information is where we receive a subpoena, summons, court order, or other legal process that compels our disclosure of information. In such event, and when we receive a valid request from law enforcement, we will comply by disclosing the requested information. As stated in our Privacy Policy, we reserve the right to cooperate with law enforcement at all times. We will provide copies of any and all information required in furtherance of any investigation relating to user activity on the platform.

If you are a member of law enforcement, or an attorney seeking information relevant to pending litigation, you may email your legal request to:

legal@starbloomstreaming.com

Emergencies involving a threat to life

If your request concerns an ongoing event involving a danger of death or serious physical injury, do not wait for email.

Use the emergency form below. It opens a conversation with our Trust & Safety team directly, and it does not require a Starbloom account — you should not have to sign up for anything in the middle of an incident.

Open an emergency request

Please have ready:

• Your name, rank or title, badge or credential number, and agency.
• An email address at the organisation you represent. We will use it to confirm you are contactable there.
• The nature of the emergency and the specific danger.
• The Starbloom username or profile URL the request concerns.
• A case or incident number, if one exists.
• A direct telephone number, and the agency’s publicly listed main number.

How we verify

We will confirm who you are before disclosing anything, including in an emergency. An email address at an agency domain can be forged and letterhead can be copied, so the check we rely on most is a callback to your agency’s publicly listed main number — not to a number supplied in the request itself. We may also ask for the request on agency letterhead, or for a supervisor’s name and contact details.

This is not an obstacle and it is not a delay tactic. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) we may disclose without legal process where we form a good-faith belief that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury requires disclosure without delay — and confirming that a request is genuine is part of forming that belief, not something separate from it. We will not let verification hold up a real emergency.

Disclosure in an emergency is at our discretion and is limited to what the emergency requires.

What each kind of process reaches

We follow the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.

• Subpoena — basic subscriber information: account name, email address, dates of creation and last access, IP addresses used to register and access the account, and billing records.
• Court order under § 2703(d) — the above, plus non-content transactional records.
• Search warrant, on probable cause — the above, plus stored content: messages, uploaded media, and stream recordings we still hold.

Requests from outside the United States generally require a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request or a letter rogatory, unless another lawful mechanism applies.

What to include in a written request

• The issuing agency, and the name, title, and agency email address of the requesting officer.
• A direct return address and telephone number for verification.
• The Starbloom username or profile URL. An email address or a display name is often not enough to identify an account, and a request we cannot match to an account gets a request for clarification rather than data.
• The specific records sought and the time period they cover.
• Valid legal process attached.

Preservation

We will preserve records for 90 days on a formal preservation request under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f), and extend once for a further 90 days on request.

Preservation is not disclosure. Legal process is still required to obtain what has been preserved.

Telling the user

Our policy is to notify a user before disclosing their information, so they have an opportunity to object, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so, or we have reason to believe notice would create a risk of injury, of destruction of evidence, or of harm to a child.

If your request should be non-disclosed, say so and cite the order or statute that requires it. A request for confidentiality without legal basis will not by itself prevent notice.

What we hold, and for how long

We cannot produce what we do not have. Retention differs by record type, some of it is short, and some categories are deliberately not retained at all. If timing matters, send a preservation request first and the legal process afterwards.

Costs

We may seek reimbursement for the costs of responding where the law permits.

Not for the public

This page is for law enforcement and government agencies. Members of the public should use the reporting controls in the product, or the routes for copyright, intimate imagery, and child safety.

If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. We can remove content; we cannot send help.