These guidelines explain how law enforcement agencies can request information about OtherHalf accounts, what legal process we require, and what information we do and do not hold. OtherHalf is a United States–based service, and requests for user information are governed by U.S. law, including the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.).
Section 01How to reach us
Serve legal process and send all law enforcement inquiries to support@otherhalf.love with the subject line "Law Enforcement Request" (or "EMERGENCY" — see Section 6). Requests are read by a human. Please include:
- The requesting agency, the name and badge or identification number of the responsible officer, and an official agency email address for our reply.
- The legal authority for the request (the subpoena, court order, or warrant, attached).
- The identifier of the account concerned — the phone number used to sign in is the primary account identifier. A first name alone is usually not enough to identify an account.
- A description of the information sought and the relevant date range, as narrowly as possible.
We accept service by email. Acceptance of service does not waive any objection, and we may seek to narrow or contest requests that are overbroad, unduly burdensome, or legally deficient.
Section 02Required legal process
Consistent with the Stored Communications Act, the process required depends on what is requested:
- Basic subscriber information — the phone number an account was created with, its optional recovery email address, account creation date, and account status — requires a valid subpoena.
- Records and other non-content information — such as security and authentication event logs — requires a court order under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) or a warrant.
- Content of communications — chat messages, photos, voice recordings, profile content, and stories — requires a search warrant issued on probable cause.
We do not disclose user information in response to informal requests, and we do not provide any person or agency with direct or ongoing access to our systems.
Section 03What information exists
Our Privacy Policy describes everything we collect and exactly how long each category is kept; it is the authoritative reference. In summary, subject to valid process we may be able to produce, where it exists:
- Account records: sign-in phone number, optional recovery email, account creation date, account status, and chosen app language.
- Profile content: name, date of birth, photos, bio and profile fields, and Story Time media the user has posted.
- Messages: chat messages between matched users, including voice recordings sent in chat and any photos or GIFs sent before photo messaging was retired in September 2026. Messages are stored encrypted at rest and can be produced by us in readable form pursuant to a warrant.
- Match and interaction records: matches, blocks, unmatches, and user reports.
- Security logs: authentication and account-change events, retained for 180 days. These logs contain timestamps, event types, and truncated network identifiers.
- Moderation records: warnings, suspensions, and bans, including the reason category — these are retained even after an account is deleted.
- Reported content: when a user reports a message or media, the reported material is preserved from routine deletion while the report is on file.
- Purchase records: in-app purchase and refund events. Payment is processed by Apple's App Store and Google Play; we never hold card numbers or billing details, and those must be sought from the payment platform.
Section 04What we cannot provide
- Deleted accounts: when a user deletes their account, their profile, photos, messages, and assessment data are deleted typically within hours and in all cases within 30 days. What survives deletion is limited to the moderation records, the deletion-compliance log entry, and time-limited backup copies described in the Privacy Policy. A preservation request (Section 5) received before deletion is the reliable way to keep data available.
- Real-time interception: we have no capability to intercept communications prospectively or provide "wiretap"-style access.
- Full network addresses: our security logs store truncated network identifiers, not complete IP addresses.
- Biometric data: face descriptors computed during photo verification are never stored — they are discarded the moment verification completes. Only the verified badge and its date exist.
- Precise location history: we hold profile location for matching purposes; we do not keep a movement history or location trail.
- Payment instruments: card and billing details are held by Apple and Google, not by us.
Section 05Preservation requests
Upon a valid preservation request from a law enforcement agency under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f), we will preserve a snapshot of the identified account's existing records for 90 days, extendable once by a further 90 days on renewed request. Preservation does not disclose anything — disclosure still requires the legal process described in Section 2. Because deleted-account data is removed on the schedule above, agencies anticipating legal process for an at-risk account should send a preservation request as early as possible.
Section 06Emergency disclosure
Where 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, as permitted by 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) and § 2702(c)(4). Send emergency requests to support@otherhalf.love with the subject line "EMERGENCY" and include the nature of the emergency, the account identifier, the specific information needed, and why the situation cannot await legal process. Emergency requests are prioritized ahead of all other correspondence.
Section 07International requests
Requests from law enforcement agencies outside the United States must proceed through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request, letters rogatory, or another mechanism recognized under U.S. law; we honor legal process issued by a U.S. authority. Non-U.S. agencies may send preservation requests (Section 5) and emergency disclosure requests (Section 6) directly.
Section 08User notice and child safety
- User notice: our policy is to notify a user before disclosing their information in response to legal process, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so (for example by an order under 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b)), or we believe in good faith that notice would create a risk of harm to any person or would compromise an active investigation in an emergency case.
- Child safety: OtherHalf is restricted to users 18 and older, and we enforce that restriction at signup. We comply with our reporting obligations under applicable law, including reports of apparent child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
- Questions: agencies with questions about these guidelines can write to support@otherhalf.love.