Legal Process Guidelines
Smartago LLC complies with valid, binding legal process issued under applicable law. This page explains how to serve process for zukka accounts, what categories of data exist on our systems, and — equally important — what categories of data do not exist and can never be produced, regardless of the legal instrument used.
1. How to serve legal process
- Service channel: legal@zukka.app (official intake for Smartago LLC / zukka). We do not accept service through other channels.
- Requests must: identify the requesting agency and authorized agent; cite the legal authority; identify the target account by nickname (we cannot locate accounts by name, email address or phone number — we do not collect them); and describe the specific records sought with a reasonable date range.
- Overbroad or unsigned requests, and requests not legally binding on a US company, will be returned.
2. What exists on our systems
| Category | Contents | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic subscriber record | nickname, account creation date, country code | no name, no email, no phone number — these are never collected |
| Session records | device model and OS, login timestamps, country code, connection IP | raw IPs are automatically deleted after 30 days; only the country code is retained thereafter |
| Invites | invite codes, status, timestamps | |
| Stored content | messages, attachments and contact data as ciphertext | encrypted with keys that derive from the user's passphrase and never exist complete on our systems; we hold no means of decryption |
3. What each instrument can obtain (US process — 18 U.S.C. §2701 et seq.)
- Subpoena: basic subscriber record (above).
- Court order under §2703(d): session records and other non-content records described in section 2.
- Search warrant: stored content — which on our systems exists only as ciphertext we cannot decrypt. We will produce the ciphertext as stored.
We have no technical capability to intercept communications in real time or to produce content in readable form. Smartago LLC is not a telecommunications carrier subject to CALEA capability mandates.
4. Preservation requests
Upon a request under 18 U.S.C. §2703(f), we will preserve the then-existing records described in section 2 for 90 days, renewable once for an additional 90 days. Preservation does not suspend the automated 30-day IP deletion for periods before the request was received — data already deleted cannot be preserved.
5. Emergency disclosure
Under 18 U.S.C. §2702(b)(8), where we have a good-faith belief that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury requires disclosure without delay, we may disclose the available records described in section 2. Mark such requests "EMERGENCY" in the subject line to legal@zukka.app and include the facts establishing the emergency, the specific account, and the requesting officer's verifiable credentials.
6. Non-US authorities
Smartago LLC is a US company and responds to process binding under US law. Non-US authorities should proceed through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request or letters rogatory via the US Department of Justice, or through mechanisms available under executive agreements where applicable. We do not act on foreign orders served directly.
7. User notice
Our policy is to notify the affected user before producing records, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so (for example by a non-disclosure order under 18 U.S.C. §2705(b)). Where notice is delayed by such an order, we provide it once the prohibition lapses.
8. Costs
We may seek reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to legal process, as permitted by 18 U.S.C. §2706.
9. Transparency
Requests received and their outcomes are reported, in permitted form, in our biannual Transparency Report.