Law Enforcement & Transparency

This page sets out how Rangmel responds when the state, a court or a private party asks for information about a member. We publish it because on an app like this, the answer matters more than usual.

Our starting position

What we require before we disclose anything

• A valid legal order — a court order, or a written request from an authorised officer under section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita or the Information Technology Act, properly issued and signed.
• The specific account and the specific data sought. We refuse fishing requests, bulk requests, and requests for "all users in a city" or "all users of this app".
• An assessment of whether the request is lawful, proportionate and connected to an actual offence.

A police visit, a phone call, an email from an official address or a letterhead without an order is not sufficient, and we say no.

What we would have to hand over, and what does not exist

We keep as little as we can, which limits what any order can reach:

• We do not store identity document numbers, only a hash and four characters.
• Verified identity documents are deleted on the retention schedule in the Privacy Policy, so for most accounts there is nothing to produce.
• We do not keep precise location, and we do not keep location history.
• Passwords are hashed and cannot be produced in any usable form.

What we will not do

• Disclose anything to a member's family, employer, landlord, college or community — ever, on any basis, including a claim of concern for their welfare.
• Confirm or deny whether a named person holds an account, to a private party.
• Hand over another member's identity to someone who says they were wronged. That is a matter for a court, which can order it.
• Give any third party a member's gender identity, gender history or orientation except under a valid order that specifically requires it.
• Build or provide bulk exports, backdoors or standing access for anyone.

Telling you

Where we are legally permitted to, we tell the affected member before we disclose anything, so they can seek legal advice. We do not give notice only where an order forbids it, or where notice would put somebody in danger.

Exceptions we act on without an order

We will act on our own initiative, including contacting the authorities, where there is a credible and immediate risk to life, a credible indication that a child is involved, or evidence of trafficking. These are the only such exceptions.

How to send a request

Legal requests go to the grievance officer named on the Grievance Redressal page, in writing, with the order attached. Requests sent any other way are not actioned.