TikTok Preservation and Emergency Requests: Police Guide & Template

When a TikTok account is central to an investigation, two requests decide how much evidence survives: a preservation request, which asks TikTok to hold specified user data while you obtain legal process, and an emergency request, which asks TikTok to release data to prevent imminent harm. This guide covers only those two routes for US-based users, using the TikTok U.S. Law Enforcement Guidelines (published by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, page dated 6 October 2026) and the text of the federal statutes. It includes a template for each. For the wider picture, see our TikTok law enforcement data request guide.

Address the correct TikTok entity

TikTok's US guidelines say requests must be addressed to the entity matching the user's location, and that requests to the wrong entity may not be processed until corrected. For users located in the United States, the guidelines name TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, 5800 Bristol Parkway, Suite 300, Culver City, CA 90230, United States. For users outside the United States, the page sends you to the global version of the TikTok Law Enforcement Guidelines. We could not read that page when researching or checking this guide, so nothing here describes it; check it directly. If you are unsure where a user is located, TikTok points to its Safety Enforcement Tool, where you enter the username or other identifier to confirm the region. TikTok Shop data is covered by separate TikTok Shop guidelines.

TikTok preservation requests

Legal basis. TikTok's US page does not cite a statute for preservation. The federal preservation provision is 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). Its text (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," for 90 days, extended for an additional 90-day period on a renewed request by the governmental entity. This is the statute's wording, not a TikTok statement.

What TikTok U.S. says.

• It will honor formal preservation requests for 90 days, "only if it fulfils the criteria" in the earlier sections of the guidelines.
• Submit on the webform, with the request attached as a PDF.
• The request must be on law enforcement letterhead, signed and dated, and must clearly identify the specific user data to preserve by username, data type and date range.
• It may extend for an additional 90 days on receipt of a formal request to extend, but may not honor multiple extension requests beyond that one.
• If TikTok U.S. does not receive formal legal process for the preserved information before the preservation period ends, the information may be deleted when the period expires.
• Overly broad or unspecific preservation requests will not be actioned.
• User notice: its general practice is not to notify users of preservation requests, subject to applicable law and policy.

What every request must contain. The page lists requirements that apply to requests generally, and it expects a preservation request to meet them:

• Platform identification: the document itself must explicitly name the TikTok application. Generic requests, or requests naming unrelated services, will not be accepted.
• Requesting authority: name and location of the authority (or court), and the officer's name, badge or identification number, official-domain email and phone number.
• Account identifier: TikTok's approved identifiers are TikTok User ID, TikTok username (account URL or screenshot accepted), phone number, email address, and Video ID (URL or screenshot accepted). It also asks for a screenshot of the account. A username appears on the profile page below the profile photo, shown as @name.
• Data requested and date range: a specific scope and a date (and, if possible, a time) or range.
• Legal basis and offence: the legal process cited by article or section, the offence under investigation (also cited), the circumstances, and how they connect to the platform.
• User notification: state whether notification is permitted.

Using the preserved data. TikTok says that to seek disclosure of preserved data, the requirements in its Sections 1 and 3 apply. The page does not describe an internal reference number for preservation requests, and it does not state a turnaround time or list which data categories are held for each account.

TikTok emergency requests

TikTok U.S. says emergency requests are evaluated case by case. If the information provided is sufficient, in its assessment, to establish a good faith belief that there is an emergency involving imminent harm or the risk of death or serious physical injury to a person, it may provide the user data necessary to prevent that harm, as permitted by applicable law. Its general practice is not to notify users of emergency requests, subject to applicable law and policy.

For reference, the statutory text at govinfo.gov (18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) and (c)(4)) permits a provider to disclose to a governmental entity if it believes in good faith that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay of communications (b)(8) or other information (c)(4) relating to the emergency. TikTok's page does not cite these sections. The disclosure is permitted by the statute, not compelled.

How to submit. Use the same webform. TikTok says all emergency requests must be made by a sworn law enforcement official and, if sent by email, must come from an official law enforcement email domain. It tells non-law enforcement people aware of an emergency to contact local law enforcement directly.

What counts. TikTok's FAQ gives examples that may constitute an emergency, each still assessed case by case: child safety and exploitation, missing persons, suicide and self-injury, imminent threats of violence (including terrorism), and natural or man-made disasters.

Speed. TikTok does not promise a response time. It says its team aims to respond in a timely manner, that times vary with caseload and complexity, and that if a request is time-sensitive you should say so in the request and explain why. It adds that longer times can be expected where a request does not meet its requirements.

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

These are our own drafts written to the details TikTok's page lists. They are not TikTok forms; the webform has its own fields.

Preservation request (PDF on letterhead)

[AGENCY LETTERHEAD]

[DATE]

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC
[ENTITY ADDRESS AS PRINTED IN TIKTOK'S U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT GUIDELINES]

RE: Request to preserve TikTok user data pending legal process
[ORIGINAL REQUEST / REQUEST TO EXTEND, referencing the date of the earlier request]

Requesting authority: [AGENCY NAME AND LOCATION]
Requesting officer: [NAME], [BADGE / ID NUMBER], [OFFICIAL EMAIL], [PHONE WITH EXTENSION]

This request concerns the TikTok application. Under [18 U.S.C. section 2703(f) / STATE LAW CITATION], we request that you preserve the following user data pending the issuance of [SEARCH WARRANT / COURT ORDER / OTHER PROCESS].

Account identifier(s): [TIKTOK USERNAME / USER ID / PHONE / EMAIL / VIDEO ID]. A screenshot of the account is attached.
Data to preserve: [DATA TYPE(S), for example subscriber information, log-in / log-out data, interaction data (non-content), content data, transaction data]
Date range: [START DATE AND TIME] to [END DATE AND TIME]

Offence(s) under investigation: [OFFENCE AND STATUTE CITATION]
Circumstances and connection to TikTok: [BRIEF FACTUAL SUMMARY, CASE NUMBER [NUMBER]]
User notification: [PERMITTED / NOT PERMITTED, WITH LEGAL BASIS IF NOT]

[SIGNATURE]
[NAME, TITLE]

Emergency request (text for the webform)

Requesting officer: [NAME], sworn law enforcement officer, [BADGE / ID NUMBER]
Agency and official email: [AGENCY], [OFFICIAL EMAIL], [PHONE]
Case or incident number: [NUMBER]
TIME-SENSITIVE: [YES, and reason]

Account identifier: [TIKTOK USERNAME / USER ID / PHONE / EMAIL / VIDEO ID]

Emergency: [FACTUAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY, WHEN IT AROSE, AND HOW IT CAME TO YOUR ATTENTION]
Imminent harm or risk of death or serious physical injury: [WHO IS AT RISK AND WHY THE RISK IS IMMINENT]
Data requested: [SPECIFIC DATA AND DATE RANGE, LIMITED TO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO PREVENT THE HARM]
How the data will help prevent the harm: [EXPLAIN]

[SIGNATURE / DATE]

Common mistakes TikTok's guidance points to

TikTok's FAQ lists the most common reasons it rejects requests:

• The request is not addressed to the correct TikTok entity for the user's location.
• It does not specify the legal process that authorizes the request.
• It does not state the offence under investigation, the circumstances, or the connection to TikTok.
• It is overly broad, for example asking for "all user data", or has no date range.

The page also says Word attachments are not accepted (PDF only), requires requests to be on letterhead, signed and dated, and says it will not respond to requests from non-law enforcement or sent through informal channels. Requests and supporting documents must be in English or come with a translation. If you are following up on an NCMEC Cybertip made by TikTok U.S., include the NCMEC report number.

Related

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

Sources

• TikTok U.S. Law Enforcement Guidelines and FAQs (TikTok USDS Joint Venture)
• TikTok Law Enforcement Request Form (address as printed in the U.S. guidelines)
• 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 TikTok'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.