SimpliSafe Guidelines for Law Enforcement Requests
Last updated: February 2023
These operational guidelines are only for law enforcement officials seeking customer account records from SimpliSafe. These guidelines may change at any time.
SimpliSafe’s Approach to Law Enforcement Requests
We take the privacy and security of our customers' information very seriously. As such, we review each law enforcement request for user information carefully and only provide information within the scope and authority of the request and in accordance with applicable law and our Guidelines below. As such, we analyze each request to ensure it complies with the foregoing and is not overly broad. We will seek to narrow those requests that we do consider overly broad to ensure the information requested is within the scope and authority of the corresponding subpoena, court order, search warrant, etc.
Legal Process Requirements
We disclose customer account records solely (1) in connection with an official criminal investigation and (2) in accordance with our Terms of Service and applicable law, including the federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2712.
Under US law:
A valid subpoena issued in connection with an official criminal investigation is required to compel the disclosure of basic subscriber records (defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(c)(2)), which may include: name, length of service, credit card and payment information, email address(es), customer contracts, recent login/logout information, IP address(es), as and if available.
A valid court order issued under 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(d) in connection with an official criminal investigation is required to compel the disclosure of certain records or other information pertaining to the account, in addition to the basic subscriber records identified above.
A valid search warrant issued in connection with an official criminal investigation under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedures upon a showing of probable cause is required to compel the disclosure of the stored contents of any account, which may include audio and video recordings, alerts and messages, and event information.
SimpliSafe will not disclose customer account records or stored contents of any customer account in connection with a civil investigation.
Account Preservation
We will take steps to preserve account records in connection with official criminal investigations for 90 days pending our receipt of formal legal process. You may submit formal preservation requests by email, fax or mail as indicated below. Emergency Requests
In responding to a matter involving imminent harm or risk of death or serious physical injury to any person and requiring disclosure of information without delay, a law enforcement official may submit a request via email at Emergency-Government-Request@simplisafe.com. Important note: We will not review or respond to messages sent to this email address by non-law enforcement officials. Users aware of an emergency situation should immediately and directly contact local law enforcement officials.
Data Retention and Availability
In response to valid requests received in accordance with these guidelines, we will search for and disclose data that (1) is specified with particularity in an appropriate form of legal process, (2) is in our possession and (3) we are reasonably able to locate and retrieve. We do not retain data for law enforcement purposes unless we receive a valid preservation request.
Form of Requests
We will be unable to process overly broad or vague requests. All requests must identify requested records with particularity and include the following:
The name of the issuing authority, badge/ID number of responsible agent, email address from a law-enforcement domain, and direct contact phone number.
The email address, user ID or user name associated with the SimpliSafe account.
SimpliSafe Contact Information for Law Enforcement Authorities
Email: Law-Enforcement-Request@simplisafe.com
Mail:
SimpliSafe, Inc. 100 Summer Street, 3rd Floor Boston, MA 02110
Law enforcement officials who submit requests via regular mail should expect longer response times.
General – Applying to All Requests from Law Enforcement Subject to these Guidelines
Acceptance of legal process by any of these means is for convenience and does not waive any objections, including lack of jurisdiction or proper service.
We will not respond to correspondence sent by non-law enforcement officials to the addresses above.
SimpliSafe will not disclose customer account records or stored contents of any customer account in connection with a civil investigation.
To ensure SimpliSafe can carefully assess each law enforcement request in accordance with these Guidelines, SimpliSafe requires that the request affords a reasonable timeframe, both to assess the request and to furnish a response. SimpliSafe will not be able to respond to requests that do not afford it a reasonable amount of time to diligently comply with these Guidelines.