Legal requests

Who these guidelines are for

These guidelines explain how government agencies, courts and parties to litigation request information about GameTape users. They describe our operating practice; they do not create rights in any person or entity, and they do not limit any objection we may make to a particular request. GameTape is operated in the United States, and the information described here is held by GameTape and its service providers in the United States.

A GameTape user who wants their own information does not need legal process. They can download or delete it from inside the app, or write to privacy@gametapeapp.com.

What we hold, and what we do not

GameTape is built so that most footage stays on the phone that filmed it. We can produce only what is actually in our possession, custody or control. Depending on how an account has been used, that may include:

• Basic subscriber information — name, email address, phone number where one was used to sign in, account creation date, sign-in method, and, where our logs still hold them, the IP address and time of recent sign-ins.
• Account records — the players, teams and circles an account belongs to, consent records, the dates clips were sent and to whom, and administrative logs.
• Content — clips a user sent through GameTape, notes and messages, and games a family chose to store in the Vault.

We do not hold footage that never left a user's phone (Recently Deleted, for example, lives on the phone), footage we have already deleted, or payment card details (purchases are handled by Apple). Deleted material is removed on the schedule described in our Privacy Policy; a preservation request received before that point stops it.

What we require

We follow the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701–2713, and the Fourth Amendment.

• Subpoena (grand jury, administrative or trial subpoena): basic subscriber information under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(c)(2).
• Court order under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d): basic subscriber information and other non-content account records.
• Search warrant issued under the procedures of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or an equivalent state warrant procedure: all of the above, and the contents of an account.

A request must be on official letterhead or otherwise verifiably issued, identify the account with specificity (the email address or phone number used to sign in is best), state the information sought and the date range, and give a return email address at a government or official domain. We may reject requests that are overbroad, unclear or not properly issued, and we may ask for them to be narrowed.

Civil litigation

Federal law does not allow us to disclose the contents of communications in response to a civil subpoena. In civil matters we may disclose basic subscriber information in response to a valid subpoena after notice to the user and an opportunity to object. Parties seeking content should obtain it from the user.

Requests from outside the United States

Foreign authorities should use a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, letters rogatory, or an agreement under the CLOUD Act where one applies. We review emergency requests from outside the United States under the standard below.

Emergencies

If we believe in good faith that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay, we may disclose information voluntarily under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2702(b)(8) and 2702(c)(4). Send the request to legal@gametapeapp.com with EMERGENCY in the subject line, and describe the emergency, the person at risk, and why the information is needed urgently. A request without that description will be handled as an ordinary request.

Preservation

We honor preservation requests under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). On receipt we preserve a one-time snapshot of the identified account for 90 days, extendable once for a further 90 days on request, while the requester obtains formal process. While a preservation hold is in place, we suspend deletion of that account's material on our servers — including a deletion the account holder requests — so that nothing we hold is lost. Preservation does not by itself result in any disclosure.

Notifying users

Our policy is to notify users of requests for their information before disclosure, so that they have the chance to seek legal advice or object. We do not notify when we are prohibited from doing so by law or court order (for example under 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b)), when notice would create a risk of death or serious physical injury, when the request concerns the sexual exploitation or endangerment of a child, or when the account has been disabled for violating our Terms in a way that notice would undermine. When a non-disclosure order expires, we may notify the user.

Children's information

Much of what GameTape holds concerns minors whose accounts are held by a parent or guardian. We apply the same requirements to that information, and where the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act applies we disclose a child's personal information only as that law permits, including to respond to judicial process and to protect the safety of a child.

Costs, and how to serve us

We may seek reimbursement for the costs of responding, as permitted by 18 U.S.C. § 2706, and we waive it in emergencies and in cases involving the safety of a child. We accept service of legal process from U.S. law enforcement by email at legal@gametapeapp.com as a matter of convenience; accepting a request this way does not waive any objection, including to jurisdiction or to the way it was served.

Contact

Legal process and preservation requests: legal@gametapeapp.com

Emergencies: the same address, EMERGENCY in the subject line.

Child exploitation: report it to the NCMEC CyberTipline and to us.