Legal
For legal inquiries, please contact us at legal@duetapp.net. For specific information regarding law enforcement requests, please refer to the following sections.
Law Enforcement
1. Overview & Service of Process
Wink Tech Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Duet") responds to valid legal process requests from recognized law enforcement and government agencies in accordance with our Privacy Policy and United States law, including the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2701–2713).
All formal subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, and data preservation requests from law enforcement or government agencies conducting criminal investigations must be submitted through our designated legal intake channels set out below. This policy does not govern civil subpoenas, regulatory inquiries, or other non-criminal requests for user information; those should be directed to legal@duetapp.net with a description of the legal basis.
Email Intake:
legal@duetapp.net(Fastest processing method)Corporate Entity & Mailing Address: (Physical mail; subject to longer response times)
Wink Tech Limited
300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 210-2207
Wilmington, DE 19801
⚠️ Important Notice: Acceptance of legal process via email is solely for the convenience of law enforcement agencies and does not waive any legal objections, including those relating to jurisdiction or improper service. Duet will not produce any data in response to a request received from an unverified sender.
This policy applies to U.S. law enforcement requests. For non-U.S. law enforcement, we may also require a valid U.S. court order (via mutual legal assistance treaty, mutual legal assistance agreement, or letter rogatory) to disclose certain data to authorities outside the U.S.
2. Required Account Identifiers
To execute a database lookup, law enforcement must provide a unique, unambiguous system identifier. Duet cannot locate accounts or fulfill legal data requests based on display names alone, as user names are non-unique across our platform.
Please ensure your request contains at least one of the following identifiers:
- A verified telephone number (including country code).
- A verified email address.
- A unique system User ID (if obtained via a user data dump or application interface).
Requests must contain the following detailed information:
- Your name, department, title, street address, telephone number and official government domain email address.
- Clearly identify the investigation or specific event that took place that is the underlying basis for the request.
- Specific date/time/location(s).
- Exactly what information you're requesting, why you're requesting it, and how it pertains to your investigation.
- If applicable, a Non-Disclosure Order issued by a Court or relevant legal authority supporting non-disclosure.
- The applicable act or law under which the law enforcement agency is requesting the data.
Requests must be typed, duly signed and stamped by the appropriate law enforcement officer who is empowered by local law to represent the law enforcement unit that is making the request, in compliance with local and United States law, and addressed to Wink Tech Limited directly. Requests must be narrowly tailored to a legitimate law enforcement need.
3. Data Preservation Requests (18 U.S.C. § 2703(f))
Pursuant to our data minimization practices, sensitive user data is permanently deleted or anonymized 90 days following account deactivation with some exceptions. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
If your agency requires additional time to obtain the necessary legal process for disclosure, you may submit a written preservation request under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). Upon receipt, Duet will preserve available records associated with the identified account for up to 90 days. To request continued preservation, the agency must submit a renewal request before expiration of the initial period; where legally permitted and operationally feasible, Duet may grant one additional preservation period of up to 90 days.
4. Legal Production Tiers & Data Matrix
As an electronic communication and remote computing service provider, our statutory disclosure capabilities are strictly restricted by the legal instrument provided. We categorize our data holdings into the following three tiers:
| Legal Instrument | Statutory Authority | Scope of Data Disclosed |
|---|---|---|
| Subpoena (Grand Jury or Administrative) | 18 U.S.C. § 2703(c)(2) | Basic Subscriber Information (BSI): User's full name, telephone number, email address (if present), account creation timestamp, registration IP address, latest login IP address, self-reported registration city/state (if provided), and transactional payment/billing tokens (if payments were made). |
| Court Order (2703(d) Order) | 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) | Non-Content Transactional Records: Historical IP login/session logs with timestamps, device hardware identifiers (e.g., IDFA/GAID tokens), general application usage metrics, match and swipe history, and generalized network location data. |
| Search Warrant (Signed by a Judicial Officer) | Federal Rule 41 / State Equivalent / UCMJ §846 Equivalent | Full Account Content: The actual text, media links, and timestamps of user-to-user chat histories, user-uploaded profile imagery, and precise historical geolocation/GPS logs. |
5. User Notification Policy
Duet does not currently practice affirmative user notification upon the receipt of legal requests. Data processing will proceed silently. However, we reserve the right to do so if notification is permitted by law and determined to be warranted, in our discretion, including in connection with an alleged safety incident.
Hence, if your ongoing criminal investigation dictates an absolute requirement for statutory nondisclosure, please accompany your legal request with a formal, court-signed Non-Disclosure Order (NDO) pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b).
6. Victim & Cooperative User Self-Service Alternative
If you are working with a cooperative victim or witness, your agency may obtain certain records directly from that user through Duet's self-service export tools. For user-provided records, formal legal process may not be required; however, agencies should determine independently whether subpoenas, court orders, or warrants are needed for their investigation or evidentiary requirements.
Active users, or users who deactivated their accounts within the past 3 months, can instantly download a complete clone of their data—including all direct message text and match names—directly through our secure user portal: Retrieve Your Data. This allows the user to hand the evidence directly to your team without requiring formal legal intervention.
7. Emergency and Exigent Disclosure Requests
In limited circumstances, Duet may voluntarily disclose user information to a governmental entity without prior legal process where Duet, in good faith, believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay. This authority derives from 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) and § 2702(c)(4) and is not a substitute for the compelled disclosure process under 18 U.S.C. § 2703.
Eligibility
An emergency request will be considered only where all of the following conditions are met. The requesting officer must certify:
- that they are authorized by law to obtain the requested records;
- there is an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to an identifiable person;
- the information sought is necessary to prevent that harm and is not obtainable through another immediately available means; and
- the requesting officer cannot obtain the required legal process before the harm is likely to occur.
Submission
Emergency requests must be submitted via email to legal@duetapp.net with the subject line "EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE REQUEST" in capital letters. The request must be sent from an official government or law enforcement email address and must include: (a) the officer's full name, badge or employee number, agency, direct telephone number, and official email address; (b) a detailed statement of the emergency, including the nature of the threat, the identity (or best available description) of the person at risk, and the specific information being requested; (c) confirmation that legal process cannot be obtained in time; and (d) the officer's certification that the facts stated are true to the best of their knowledge.
Follow-up legal process required
Emergency disclosure is an interim measure only. Any agency that receives user data pursuant to an emergency disclosure must provide Duet with valid compelled legal process within three (3) days of the emergency disclosure.
Scope limitation
This section applies only to emergency disclosures initiated by law enforcement officials. Non-law enforcement individuals who are aware of an emergency situation should contact local law enforcement directly; Duet cannot process emergency requests from private individuals.