The website informs users of the legal action, when possible

Jan 30, 2015 09:40 GMT  ·  By

The first report from Reddit about requests for user information from different entities reveals that in 2014 the website responded positively to 64% of all US state and federal government demands.

It may seem like a large percentage, but the total number of requests received by Reddit last year, including those from international entities and civil subpoenas, was 55.

User info requests are analyzed in order to prevent abuse

The data requested from Reddit referred to account and registration info, as well as content uploaded by the users. Not all the details are stored by the website, as IP addresses, apart from the one used for registering, are kept for a period of 90 days.

Conforming to the requests made by different organizations is not obligatory in all cases and users may be informed of the demands, if no binding gag order has been issued, which happened in 13 cases.

“Many government requests we receive contain demands to withhold notice from users that carry no legal weight. We actively disregard these non-binding demands. Our goal is to give users the information they need to seek legal advice before their records are disclosed. As stated in our privacy policy, we provide advance notice to affected users unless prohibited by a court order or where we decide delayed notice is appropriate based on clear criteria,” informs the transparency report from Reddit.

Binding gag orders were received

Last year, the website was served 29 US subpoenas, six of which were accompanied by a binding gag order, for disclosing information on 30 users. Reddit did not comply with all the demands and offered details only for 17 of them.

The website also shared user data as requested by seven US search warrants (out of a total of eight), all with a binding gag order.

Seven emergency requests were received by Reddit last year, and only in the case of four of them user data was disclosed. Reddit classifies these as emergency situations when imminent and serious bodily harm to a person can be prevented. However, law enforcement is still asked to offer as much info as possible and to certify the request in writing, in order to avoid abuse.

Reddit says that the privacy of its users is respected in 100% of the cases when it receives requests from non-US governments, but only if the data is not needed by a US court.

User info requests from Reddit (2 Images)

Requests for user info received and honored by Reddit
Most requests came through US subpoenas
Open gallery