INTRODUCTION
These guidelines are for any law enforcement or other federal, state or local government authority (the “Requesting Authority”) making a request to Tencent Cloud LLC or any other Tencent group company (“we”, “our”, “us” or “Tencent Cloud NA”) that operates cloud services in North America (“Tencent Cloud Services - NA”), for disclosure of data about our users of Tencent Cloud Services - NA (a “Request”).
We respond to Requests made by a Requesting Authority in accordance with these guidelines, subject always to applicable laws and regulations and our internal guidelines. Applicable laws include, but are not limited to, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Title 18 U.S. Code, § 2510, et seq. (“ECPA”), the Stored Communications Act, Title 18 U.S. Code, § 2701 et seq. (“SCA”), and the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Cal. Penal Code §§ 1546 – 1546.4 (“CalECPA”).
Except in emergency circumstances as described in these Guidelines, Tencent Cloud NA will not release customer information without valid legal process properly served on us. Depending on the customer information being requested, the required legal process may include a court order, subpoena, or search warrant, as described in these Guidelines.
We may amend these guidelines at any time without notice. We encourage you to check back regularly on this page for updates. These guidelines are applicable to Requests from Requesting Authorities only. Nothing in these guidelines shall be used to create any legal obligations or any enforceable rights against Tencent Cloud LLC or any other member of the Tencent group.
Disclaimer on Requests for data not held by Tencent Cloud LLC: From time to time, we receive Requests for disclosure of data which do not belong to and/or are not held by Tencent Cloud LLC but a separate entity. The responsibility is on the Requesting Authority to make the appropriate request(s) to such other entities and/or affiliates as necessary.
WHAT KINDS OF REQUESTS DO WE RESPOND TO?
We respond to the following types of Requests:
Preservation Requests
We accept Requests issued in accordance with SCA § 2703(f) from Requesting Authorities to preserve specified records or data, pending the issuance of valid legal process. Please complete this form to make a Preservation Request. In compliance with SCA § 2703(f), we will preserve requested information for up to 90 days, and upon receipt of a preservation extension request, one additional 90 day period. If we do not receive formal legal request for the preserved information before the end of the initial or extended preservation period, the preserved information may be deleted when the preservation period expires. In addition to the information described below (in “Form of Request”), Preservation Requests must be sent on law enforcement letterhead and signed by a representative of the Requesting Authority.
Legal Process Requests
Depending on the type of information sought, we may provide user information in response to a subpoena, administrative summons, court order or search warrant issued by a U.S. governmental entity or court of competent jurisdiction as those terms are defined in the SCA.
Tencent Cloud NA requires a judicially issued search warrant for all Requests for user content. Content includes the substantive content of data stored in a user’s account, which may include documents, media files or other data that the user stores or processes on Tencent Cloud NA.
Tencent Cloud NA requires a subpoena to produce user information in response to a Request for basic subscriber information, such as the customer’s name, contact information, billing information, types of services used or purchased and dates of account creation and termination. Tencent Cloud NA may also provide this information in response to a court order or search warrant.
For Requests submitted by a California state Requesting Authority (e.g., a county sheriff’s department, city or state police or district attorney’s office) Tencent Cloud NA requires a search warrant to produce all information about a user.
Emergency Disclosure Requests
We may provide information in response to an urgent law enforcement request without receipt of formal legal process where information provided by the Requesting Authority gives us a good faith belief that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to a person requires disclosure without delay. Please note that we evaluate Emergency Requests on a case-by-case basis and in our sole discretion. Please complete this form to make an Emergency Request.
INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN REQUESTS
In order to process any Request, we require that each Request clearly specify the following in writing:
the Requesting Authority;
the identity of the specific officer and/or agent of the Requesting Authority responsible for the request (the “Request Contact”) and his or her rank, badge/identification number and identification documents;
contact details for the Request Contact, including phone number, email address (which must be from the Requesting Authority’s email domain address) and postal address;
a Request response date;
the IP address, Uniform Resource Locator or user of the Tencent Cloud Services - NA to which the Request relates (including users’ identification, account details and/or email address);
list and specific type of data being requested from us regarding the relevant user/account and its relationship to the investigation to which the Request relates;
purpose of which each type of data is to be used in relation to the Request;
why is the request type of data considered necessary for the purpose; and
the basis of the Request and, where applicable and/or necessary, details of the nature of the investigation, procedure and/or process being carried out by the Requesting Authority.
NOTIFICATION OF OUR USERS
We respect our users’ rights and privacy. We may therefore notify the relevant user about any Requests for their data prior to disclosure, unless we are prohibited from doing so under applicable laws or regulations, by the terms of any legal process (such as a court issued confidentiality order), or where we reasonably believe that such disclosure may create imminent danger or risk for us or any third party.
A Requesting Authority that believes that notification would jeopardize a law enforcement investigation should obtain an appropriate legal process that specifically prohibits member notification. If your Request draws attention to an ongoing violation of our Terms and Policies, we will – to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations – take action to prevent further abuse, including actions that may notify the user that we are aware of their misconduct.
INTERNATIONAL REQUESTS
We respond to requests of an international nature made pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty ("MLAT") or an Executive Agreement entered between the United States and a foreign government pursuant to the CLOUD Act and other applicable conventions, treaties, protocols or documents of a similar nature. Such requests should be made to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS
We may seek reimbursement of our costs in responding to a Request in accordance with SCA § 2706 or other applicable law.
WHERE SHOULD REQUESTS BE SENT TO?
All Requests should be sent to the following contact details:
emailed to CloudLE_TCL@tencent.com with the subject “Law Enforcement Agency Disclosure Request”.
Please note that:
we may take longer to respond to any Requests not sent to the above contact details;
we will not review correspondences sent by anyone other than Requesting Authorities to the above contact details; and
if we accept any legal processes via the above contact details, such acceptance is for convenience only and does not waive any of our rights or objections, including for lack of proper service or jurisdiction.
QUESTIONS
For general questions regarding these guidelines not related to specific Request(s), please contact us by email at CloudPolicy@tencent.com. Please note this email does not receive service of legal documents and will not be responsive to unrelated enquiries.
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