All law enforcement and government requests should be submitted through our Law Enforcement and Government Online Submission Site. This secure submission site helps ensure that law enforcement requests for user data are legitimate. Law enforcement who have questions on our policies can send an email to our Law Enforcement Response Team at records@dropboxlegal.com.

We will notify users about requests to disclose their account information before making that disclosure unless we are prohibited from doing so by law, or where we believe that providing notice would result in danger to a person or would be counterproductive, such as cases involving the sexual exploitation of children or other emergencies. In some cases, Dropbox may provide delayed notice to the affected user(s) when the prohibition or emergency has lifted.

Law enforcement seeking to prohibit or delay Dropbox from notifying a user must provide a court order for non-disclosure in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §2705(b) or other applicable statute. All non-disclosure orders must be for a specific period of time.

US Legal Process

Under US law, law enforcement must have legal process issued in connection with an official criminal investigation to compel Dropbox to disclose available user information. 

• A subpoena (including trial, grand jury, and administrative subpoenas) is required to compel the disclosure of basic subscriber records, as defined by 18 U.S.C. §2703(c)(2). Basic subscriber information may include email address, length of service, payment information, and IP addresses. 
• A court order issued under 18 U.S.C. §2703(d) is required to compel the disclosure of other records pertaining to usage of an account, but not including the contents of user communications. 
• A search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedure is required to compel the disclosure of content (including a user’s files or filenames).

Irish Legal Process

Under Irish law, requests directed to Dropbox International Unlimited Company must be accompanied by a valid search warrant or production order.

International Legal Process

For requests originating outside of the United States or Ireland, a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request, letter rogatory, or other process for international cooperation may be required.

Dropbox may disclose user data to law enforcement in emergency situations when someone is at imminent risk of serious physical harm or death. We review these requests expeditiously to ensure that they can be authenticated and meet the relevant legal standard for disclosure and our policies. Any data disclosures made in response to an emergency disclosure request will be limited to the information that would help prevent the imminent harm. Emergency disclosure requests should be submitted through our secure law enforcement submission site. 

Law enforcement may ask Dropbox to preserve user information in connection with official criminal investigations while they obtain legal process to compel disclosure of that information. When we receive such a request, we will take steps to preserve a one-time snapshot of available user information for a period of 90 days pending receipt of valid legal process.