Snapchat Preservation and Emergency Requests: Police Guide & Template

Two requests matter most in the first hours of a Snapchat investigation: a preservation request, which asks Snap Inc. to freeze an account's available records while you obtain legal process, and an emergency disclosure request, which asks Snap to release records without legal process because someone's life or safety is at risk. This guide covers only those two routes, using Snap's own published Law Enforcement Guide (the version served at snapchat.com/lawenforcement, last updated August 19, 2026) and its law enforcement page, plus the text of the federal statutes they rely on. It includes an adaptable template for each. For the full picture (required legal process by data type, user notice, testimony), see our Snapchat law enforcement data request guide.

Snapchat preservation requests

Where to send it. Snap's guide says US law enforcement and governmental agencies should submit legal process and preservation requests through LESS, using a government-issued email address to register. Snap notes that account creation can take time while it verifies registrants, and that you can keep using [email protected] until the account exists. The guide says Snap does not accept service of process or respond to questions from private email domains such as Gmail or Yahoo. It also says it is working to introduce LESS to designated single points of contact in non-US law enforcement, and that where LESS has been introduced it is the best method.

Legal basis. Snap says it honors preservation requests made in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). The statute (read at govinfo.gov) requires a provider, on the request of a governmental entity, to "take all necessary steps to preserve records and other evidence in its possession pending the issuance of a court order or other process." Under the statute, the records are retained for 90 days, extended for an additional 90-day period on a renewed request by the governmental entity.

What Snap says it does. Snap describes a preservation as a snapshot in time of a user's available data, including basic subscriber information, metadata, geolocation data and content such as Chats, Stories and Memories. It will attempt to preserve available records for the date range in your request, keep them in an offline file for up to 90 days, and extend once for a further 90 days. Its guide says that because Snapchat user data is not typically retained for a long period, officers may want to request preservation as soon as possible after an incident.

Extensions. Send a request that clearly says it is an extension request and not an original preservation request. Snap states that § 2703(f) does not contemplate serial preservation requests or multiple extensions beyond one additional 90-day period, and that it does not comply with them unless it decides, in its sole discretion, that an exceptional circumstance exists.

Non-US agencies. As a courtesy, Snap says it will review and respond to properly submitted preservation requests from non-US law enforcement. At its discretion it may preserve available records for up to one year while an MLAT or letters rogatory process is under way, and may extend once for a further 180 days on an extension request (Snap's web page words this as six months). Snap's guide describes the non-US route for disclosure as MLAT, a CLOUD Act bilateral agreement or letters rogatory.

User notice. Snap's guide says it does not notify users when it is served with preservation requests. Its general policy of notifying users applies to legal process seeking disclosure.

What the guide does not say. It does not state a turnaround time for preservation requests, and it does not give a list of which data types exist for every account. It says only that it will preserve "available" records. It notes that content saved in Memories' "My Eyes Only" is encrypted and cannot be decrypted by Snap, and that Snap's servers are designed to delete most content after a limited period unless the user saves it.

Identifying the account

• Username (preferred). Snap says it must be the username, not the display name. A username is 3 to 15 characters, begins with a letter, and uses only letters, numbers, and at most one hyphen, underscore or period. Users can change a username once every 365 days; Snap says a change does not affect its ability to preserve under either the old or the new name.
• If you have no username. Snap says it can try to locate an account with a current phone number (with country code) or email address, but these are less reliable. A hexadecimal User ID is also accepted, written in the 8-4-4-4-12 format.
• IP address: court orders and warrants only. The August 19, 2026 guide adds that, for U.S. search warrants and court orders only, Snap may accept an IP address with the associated timestamp(s) and time zone to search for limited subscriber information. Snap limits this to those two forms of process, so do not rely on an IP address to identify the account in a preservation or emergency request.
• Not accepted: display name, real name, date of birth, street address, Social Security number, content or media, or a user's location at a given time.

Snapchat emergency disclosure requests

Snap says that, consistent with 18 U.S.C. §§ 2702(b)(8) and 2702(c)(4), it can voluntarily disclose records without legal process when it believes in good faith that an emergency posing a threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury requires immediate disclosure. For reference, the statutory text at govinfo.gov permits disclosure to a governmental entity if the provider, in good faith, believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay of communications (§ 2702(b)(8)) or of other information (§ 2702(c)(4)) relating to the emergency. The disclosure is voluntary on the provider's side: the statute permits it and does not compel it.

How to submit. Complete Snap's Law Enforcement Emergency Response Form at less.snapchat.com/emergency. The form must come from a sworn law enforcement official using an official law enforcement email domain. Snap's guide says it provides 24-hour online support for emergencies involving the threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury. It does not publish a response-time commitment, and nothing here should be read as one.

What to include. Snap asks for the Snapchat username (or hexadecimal User ID, phone number or email address), the nature of the emergency described as specifically as possible, how it relates to an imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury, the nature and recency of the emergency, the identity of the person threatened, the specific information sought, and how that information will help resolve the emergency.

Warnings from Snap. The form is only for threats of imminent death or serious bodily injury. Non-urgent submissions receive a reply redirecting them to the standard LESS or email route. Snap also notes that impersonating a law enforcement official may be a crime in the United States and other countries. For non-US agencies, Snap says it may, at its discretion, give limited non-content records on an emergency basis to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury.

The guide's user-notice policy covers legal process; it does not separately say whether the account holder is told about an emergency disclosure.

Templates (adapt to your agency's format; not legal advice)

These are our own drafts, written to the details Snap's guide asks for. They are not Snap's forms. Snap also publishes its own sample preservation language at the end of its guide (Section IX), and its guide advises avoiding "and/or" when identifying accounts, not linking a username to a phone number or email unless you are certain they belong together, omitting details Snap cannot use to find an account (such as IP address or date of birth), and spelling out the month in dates.

Preservation request

[AGENCY LETTERHEAD]

[DATE, month spelled out]

Snap Inc.
Attention: Custodian of Records
Sent via: [LESS submission / [email protected] from an official government email address]

RE: Request to preserve records under 18 U.S.C. section 2703(f)
[ORIGINAL REQUEST / EXTENSION REQUEST: state which; if an extension, identify your earlier request by date and case number]

This agency is conducting a criminal investigation, case number [CASE NUMBER]. Under 18 U.S.C. section 2703(f), we request that Snap Inc. preserve all available records associated with the account(s) below, pending the issuance of a search warrant or other legal process.

Account identifier(s):
- Snapchat username: [USERNAME]
- [OPTIONAL, only if no username: phone number with country code / email address / hexadecimal User ID in 8-4-4-4-12 format]

Date range to preserve: [MONTH DAY, YEAR] to [MONTH DAY, YEAR] ([TIME ZONE])

Categories to preserve, to the extent available: [basic subscriber information / metadata / location data / content]

Please send confirmation of receipt to [OFFICER NAME, TITLE], [GOVERNMENT EMAIL], [PHONE].

[SIGNATURE]
[OFFICER NAME, TITLE, BADGE/ID NUMBER]
[AGENCY AND ADDRESS]

Emergency disclosure request (text for the form fields)

Submitted by: [OFFICER NAME, RANK, SWORN STATUS, BADGE/ID NUMBER]
Agency and official email: [AGENCY], [OFFICIAL LAW ENFORCEMENT EMAIL], [PHONE]
Case or incident number: [NUMBER]

Account identifier: Snapchat username [USERNAME] (or [HEXADECIMAL USER ID / PHONE WITH COUNTRY CODE / EMAIL])

Nature of the emergency: [DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHEN IT WAS REPORTED OR OBSERVED, IN FACTUAL TERMS]

Imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury: [EXPLAIN HOW THE SITUATION POSES THIS RISK AND WHY IT CANNOT WAIT FOR STANDARD LEGAL PROCESS]

Person at risk: [NAME OR DESCRIPTION, AND LOCATION IF KNOWN]

Information requested: [SPECIFIC RECORDS, FOR EXAMPLE RECENT IP LOGS, LOCATION DATA, DATE RANGE]

How this information will address the emergency: [EXPLAIN]

I am a sworn law enforcement officer and the statements above are true to the best of my knowledge. [SIGNATURE / DATE]

Common mistakes Snap's guidance points to

• Naming a display name instead of a username.
• Sending from a private email domain (Gmail, Yahoo) instead of an official government domain.
• Submitting a non-urgent matter through the emergency form; Snap says it will redirect it.
• Asking for repeated extensions; Snap says it does not comply beyond one additional 90-day period absent an exceptional circumstance.
• Not labelling an extension as an extension request.
• Sending preservation and legal process to the wrong company name; Snap says requests must be addressed to Snap Inc.

Related

• Snapchat law enforcement data request guide
• Police data-request directory (LERS)
• Investigator handbook: United States

Sources

• Snap: Information for Law Enforcement
• Snap Inc. Law Enforcement Guide (PDF, last updated August 19, 2026; Snap's download address)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2703 (govinfo.gov)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2702 (govinfo.gov)

This guide is for authorised law enforcement and government use and is not legal advice; confirm current requirements on Snap's own pages before you send anything. For other platforms see our police data-request directory, and if you are a victim rather than an investigator, start with our country-by-country cybercrime help hub.