When should a provider preservation request be considered?¶

Consider one when relevant provider data may expire or change before the lawful acquisition process can be completed, especially for central, volatile or overseas accounts.

Preservation is not disclosure¶

It asks a provider to retain identified existing data for specified accounts, categories and periods. It does not itself authorise production or guarantee every requested category was retained.

Make scope precise and auditable¶

Include account, contact, transaction, address and hash identifiers, date range and time zone, and name the transactions, endpoints, sessions, authentication, security changes, links or support records at risk. Use the correct organisational and legal route.

Record sender, time, exact scope, acknowledgement and any expiry. A later lawful request remains necessary to obtain the material, and reporting should distinguish preservation from acquisition.