Preservation Request
Definition
A formal letter sent to a platform asking it to freeze and retain specified account data pending formal legal process. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f) in the United States, platforms are obligated to preserve data for 90 days (renewable once) upon government request. Most major platforms honour similar requests from foreign law enforcement on a voluntary basis.
- Legal basis (US)
- 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(f)
- Duration
- 90 days, renewable once
- Sent to
- Platforms and social media providers
- International use
- Often honoured voluntarily for foreign requests
Common questions
How does a preservation request differ from a data disclosure order?+
A preservation request only compels the platform to freeze and retain the specified data so it is not deleted or overwritten, while a separate disclosure order, warrant, or subpoena is what actually compels the platform to hand the preserved data over to investigators.
Why do foreign law enforcement agencies rely on voluntary preservation from US platforms?+
Formal mutual legal assistance requests between countries can take months, so many major platforms accept voluntary preservation requests from foreign agencies to stop data loss in the interim, even though actual disclosure of the content still requires the appropriate cross-border legal process.
Related terms
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- Forensic Capture
- Tool-based documentation of online content that records the URL, timestamp, and page hash alongside the visible content. Preferred over manual screenshots in...
- MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty)
- A bilateral or multilateral treaty framework through which countries agree to provide legal cooperation in criminal investigations, including compelling disclosure of evidence...
- OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence)
- Intelligence gathered from publicly available sources without special legal authority. In social media investigation, OSINT covers all content visible to any user:...
- Stored Communications Act (SCA)
- Part of the US Electronic Communications Privacy Act (18 U.S.C. 2701-2712) that governs government access to stored electronic communications and data. It...