LADLE responds to valid, US-legal-process requests from law enforcement agencies. We do not respond to informal requests, and we do not voluntarily hand over user data. Every production has to come with the appropriate legal instrument for the type of data requested. This page documents what we require and how we respond, so you know what to expect.
Who to contact
All law enforcement requests must be served in writing to legal@ladle.chat. Include the requesting officer’s name, badge/ID, agency, contact email, and a copy of the legal instrument (subpoena, court order, warrant). We do not accept requests by phone.
What legal instrument is required
Response timeline
- Acknowledgment of receipt: within 3 business days.
- Standard subpoena / court order: 15-30 business days from receipt (may be faster if narrow scope).
- Search warrant with narrow scope: 5-10 business days.
- Preservation request: within 24 hours.
- Emergency request (life-threat / serious-injury exigency): within 24 hours, with data produced on a best-effort basis based on scope.
Non-US requests
We are a US company. Requests from foreign law enforcement should be routed through the US Department of Justice via a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or letters rogatory. We do not respond to foreign process served directly. Consult 18 U.S.C. § 2703 for the framework.
User notification
Our default is to notify the affected user of a legal request before disclosure, so they can seek to quash. We will not notify if:
- The request includes a valid non-disclosure order (e.g., a 2705(b) order under ECPA).
- The request is an emergency disclosure under 2702(b)(8) — we notify as soon as the emergency has passed.
- The request involves an ongoing investigation of child sexual exploitation (per NCMEC coordination).
What we can and cannot produce
We can produce whatever we actually store. Because LADLE's data model is limited by design, some records people expect us to have simply do not exist:
- We CAN produce: account email, signup timestamp, IPs at signup and login, billing records (invoices, subscription state, no card numbers — those live at Stripe), chat titles + timestamps + participants, message bodies (via warrant), uploaded file contents (via warrant).
- We CANNOT produce: content of chats a user has deleted (deleted messages are erased from our database — we do not maintain a shadow copy), messages from Temporary Chats (never persisted), transient session data beyond 90 days, real names or addresses (we do not collect these).
- For payment card data, credit/debit records, or dispute history, serve Stripe (our payment processor). We do not have direct access to card information — Stripe holds it under PCI-DSS.
Chat privacy invariant — for workspace accounts
LADLE workspaces (teams) do not change the chat privacy model. Every chat is owned by exactly one user. Even a workspace admin cannot read another member's chats. This means: a subpoena or warrant for a specific user's chats returns only that user's chats, not their entire workspace's chats. If you need chats from multiple users in the same workspace, you must serve process naming each user, or serve process on the workspace with authorization from each affected user.
Cost recovery
Under 18 U.S.C. § 2706, we may charge reasonable costs for producing records that require material staff time (typically large or complex requests). We waive these fees for routine requests. Fee schedule available on request to legal@ladle.chat.
Transparency reporting
We publish an annual transparency report summarizing law enforcement requests received, categorized by type and outcome, without identifying specific users. Latest report: /trust/transparency-report.