Law Enforcement Request Protocol

1. How to submit a request

Velvet Haven does not currently publish a separate law-enforcement mailbox. Until one is published, send requests through the support and reporting route in the Velvet Haven application, marking the subject line clearly as LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUEST or, for emergencies, EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE REQUEST. Requests submitted this way are routed to the administrative review team.

2. What every request must contain

• the requesting agency and the name, rank or title, and badge or ID number of the requesting officer
• official contact information, including a direct phone number and an agency-domain email address
• the legal authority and form of process relied on (subpoena, court order, search warrant, or other)
• a copy of the signed legal process, including the issuing court or authority and case or file number
• account or user identifiers: the account email address, member display name, or account ID
• a specific description of the records sought
• a defined date range for the records
• the return method and address for the response
• any non-disclosure obligation, with its legal basis and duration

3. Emergency disclosure requests

An emergency request must be made by an authorised official and must describe the imminent risk of death or serious physical injury, who is at risk, the nature and immediacy of the threat, the specific records needed to address it, and why normal legal process cannot be obtained in time. Emergency requests are triaged ahead of routine ones. Disclosure in an emergency is voluntary, limited to what is necessary to address the threat, and recorded.

4. Review of the request

Each request is reviewed for validity and authenticity, legal sufficiency, jurisdiction, and scope. We may contact the requesting agency to verify the request or clarify its terms. Requests that are defective, unauthenticated, outside our jurisdiction, or overbroad may be rejected or narrowed to the records the process actually reaches.

5. Preservation

On a valid preservation request we preserve existing records in our possession for the period required by law. Preservation does not disclose anything; separate legal process is needed for production. A preservation period expires at the end of the applicable statutory period unless extended by a further valid request or legal process.

6. Production of records

We produce only records that are responsive to the request and that we are legally required to disclose. We do not volunteer records beyond that scope. Some categories of data are not held by Velvet Haven: government ID images, verification selfies, document numbers, biometric data and full payment card details are handled by independent providers, not stored by us. Requests for that material must be directed to the relevant provider.

7. Notice to the member

Our policy is to notify the affected member before disclosing their records, so they can seek to protect their rights, unless notice is prohibited by law or valid legal process, or where we reasonably believe notice would create a risk of harm to a person, of destruction of evidence, or of obstruction of an investigation.

8. Secure transmission

Responses are sent by an encrypted channel to the verified official contact given in the request. We do not send records to personal email addresses or unverified contacts.

9. Logging and audit

Every request, the review decision, the scope produced, the reviewing staff member and the date are recorded in our internal audit log. Those records are retained so that decisions can be reviewed later.

10. Requests from outside the United States

Requests from authorities outside the United States may require appropriate U.S. legal process, for example through a mutual legal assistance treaty or letter rogatory, before records can be produced. Emergencies involving imminent risk of death or serious physical injury are still triaged immediately.

Emergencies

This page is not an emergency service. If a person is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.