Our statistics for 2019

Our terms of service state there’s basically no way for anyone to get any access to your data without us also being able to talk about the fact it happened, and further down nested in our legal framework outline do we have a list of 3 general types under which individual requests could be filed.

Like the last time we declared having made a full eclipse around the sun at an arbitrary date, here’s our statistics for 2019.

NOTE: I hope you will pardon me for not typing most of this again. The statistics largely remained the same, so I have elected to copy/paste the information and work from there. The largest chunk of changes will be in the “extrajudicial requests” section.

Administrative Requests: 0

This type of requests would ask for “who owns this email address?” and “what information do you have about them?”. This is the information you fill out in the registration form and/or dashboard. It is also the information we use when you state you have lost your 2nd authentication factor device (albeit we have tips to prevent that). We tend to desire a phone number to be included so that we can resolve the issue quickly.

Anyway, it’s that type of data about your account.

In 2019, we have received zero such requests.

Retroactive Metadata Requests: 0

This type of requests asks for the metadata for an account, meaning the source IP addresses that may have been used, the senders to and recipients from the account, and such “metadata” — but not the content.

We have received zero such requests in 2019.

Live Interception Requests: 0

This type of request is the digital equivalent of a “wire tap”. Obviously, the metadata is available, but this case is special because it includes content. Not only does it do that, but it also includes near real-time monitoring of what’s going on with the account. As such, it is one of the most intrusive requests.

Again, 2019 has yielded zero such requests to us.

Extrajudicial Requests: 5

This year, a few sort of extrajudicial request are worth highlighting. Let’s consider it a Key Performance Indicator and we’ve had 200%-400% growth over 2018, shall we?

A private third party threatened us with litigation, requesting the customer’s information. The allegedly litigious account had been suspended before legal representatives contacted me through email and registered mail. I’ve had quite the chuckle on this one.

A public third party requested we preserve information about an account, pending a formal request. Since we’re law-abiding citizens, and these sorts of requests have merit across a large variety of jurisdictions, I oblige and preserve the information we have. I’ve never received the formal request.

A public third party inquired as to whether or not we would honor a search warrant by some or the other judge, and whether he/she had contacted the correct address — to which we said, and I quote, “This is the right address for such requests.”. The representative of said public third party continued our correspondence by diving straight in to the information requested, meanwhile abusing a concept commonly known as emotional manipulation — more later.

A private third party threatened a criminal case against us with the local police department (plausible) and Interpol (very, very implausible) under the (mistaken) notion any alleged offender had been our employee. We aided this third party and hope he/she becomes a customer one day.

Another private third party asserted to have filed a complaint with the police as they contacted us, again (mistakenly) accusing the company of maintaining poor netiquette among its employees. This party hedged their language just ever so slightly more, and was guided along the same path of number #4 — a future customer perhaps.

What stood out to me is how a requestor will attempt to twist staff on the receiving end of their request — we’d be provided with certain details of an alleged crime, wonderfully colorful narration, however dark the alleged crime, as if it would likely influence anyone’s decision on whether or not the request is genuine.

Wrapping Up

In the story-telling department, in 2019 I’ve had to ring up a foreign public organization that we found was attempting to submit large quantities of data to us, failing at every step. I called them up in order to prevent it becoming an inhibitor for our other customers. Mind you that you can not simply get connected to anyone at any managerial level of anything at any time just like that, and that my location is not improbably a couple of time zones away from everyone else’s. It took a little while for me to reach them, and for them to acknowledge I was who I said I was, as tends to be the case.

I thought I’d mention it, as this organization now knows who I am. But that’s not how these statistics blogs work.

Have a great 2020, even if in hindsight. Otherwise, we wish you exactly the same you wish for us.