Law Enforcement Guidelines

Last updated November 1, 2026

These guidelines are for police, prosecutors, courts and other government authorities who seek information about a VeChat account. They also show our users how we handle such requests. They are for information only and do not create any obligation or waive any objection we may have.

VeChat is operated by Velovid Software, an Egyptian one person company (شركة شخص واحد) registered in the Egyptian Commercial Register.

Our principles

• We require valid legal process before disclosing account information.
• We disclose only what the legal process specifically asks for and lawfully covers.
• We do not give any authority direct, standing or bulk access to our systems.
• We review every request and object to, or ask to narrow, requests that are unclear, too broad, or not lawfully made.
• We tell users about requests for their information unless the law or a court forbids it, or it would put someone in danger.

What information may exist

Depending on how an account was used and how long ago, we may hold:

• Basic account information: VeChat ID, name, date of birth as given, email address or phone number, account creation date, and whether the account is linked to a Google or Apple sign-in.
• Sign-in records: dates, IP addresses, approximate location derived from the IP address, and device details. These are kept for 180 days.
• Safety signals stored with sign-ins, kept for one year.
• The list of devices currently signed in.
• Connections: buddies, blocked accounts, group memberships, followers.
• Call records: the parties, time and length of calls. We do not record calls and hold no call content.
• Content: messages, photos, videos, voice notes and files, feed posts, comments and stories, for as long as the user has not deleted them. VeChat messages are stored on our servers and are not end-to-end encrypted.
• Records of reports made about the account and of action we took.
• Purchase references from Google Play. We hold no card details.

We cannot provide information that has been deleted. When a user deletes an account, the account and its content are erased immediately. We do not hold users' passwords in a readable form, App Lock passcodes, or anything stored only on the user's device.

What we require for each kind of information

• Basic account information and sign-in records: a subpoena, production order or equivalent valid legal demand issued in a criminal investigation.
• Other non-content records, such as connections and call records: a court order or equivalent issued by a judge or other independent authority.
• Content of communications and stored files: a search warrant or equivalent order issued by a court on a showing of probable cause or the comparable standard in the requesting country.

Requests from different countries

Velovid is established in Egypt and answers legal process that is valid and properly served under the law that applies to us. Authorities in other countries should normally use a mutual legal assistance treaty or letters rogatory. We will review a request sent to us directly by an authority outside Egypt and may answer it voluntarily where it is lawful where it was issued, consistent with international human rights standards, the law that applies to us, and these guidelines. We do not disclose information where we believe the request is aimed at punishing someone for their political opinions, religion, journalism or other peaceful expression.

Emergency requests

If you are an authority and believe there is an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person, or a child is at risk, write to support@velovid.net with the subject line Emergency disclosure request. Describe the emergency, explain why the information is needed to prevent the harm and why there is no time for legal process, identify the account, and send it from your official email address with your name, rank, agency and a telephone number we can call to verify. We decide case by case and may disclose the information needed to avert the harm. We may ask for legal process afterwards.

Members of the public who know of an emergency should contact their local emergency services, not us.

Preservation requests

On a signed request from an authority made in connection with an official criminal investigation, we will take a copy of the existing records of an identified account and hold it for 90 days while you obtain legal process. We extend this once for a further 90 days if asked. We preserve what exists at the time of the request, not future activity, and we release it only on valid legal process.

Child safety

We report apparent child sexual exploitation material to the appropriate authorities or to the organisations designated to receive such reports, where the law requires or allows it. If your request concerns an investigation into the exploitation or endangerment of a child, say so clearly so that we can deal with it first.

What a request must contain

• The name of the issuing authority, and the name, badge or identification number, official email address and direct telephone number of the requesting officer.
• The legal basis for the request and a copy of the signed legal process.
• The account concerned, identified by its VeChat ID (the name after the @ sign). A display name, a photo or a phone number alone is often not enough to identify an account. A profile link or a screenshot showing the VeChat ID helps.
• Exactly what information is sought, the time period, and how it relates to the investigation.
• The date by which a reply is needed, and whether notifying the user is prohibited, with the legal basis for that prohibition.

Send requests from an official government email address to support@velovid.net, in English or with an English translation. We do not accept requests through in-app support, and we cannot act on requests from private email accounts. We answer in the order received, with emergencies and child safety first.

Telling the user

Our policy is to tell a user before we disclose their information, so that they can seek legal advice, unless we are prohibited from doing so by law or by a court order, or we believe that notice would create a risk of harm to someone, or the case involves child exploitation. Where a request comes with a non-disclosure order, we tell the user after the order has expired where we are allowed to. A simple request not to tell the user, without a legal basis, is not enough.

Requests in civil cases and from private parties

We do not disclose account information to private individuals, companies or lawyers on request. A party to a civil dispute should seek the information from the other party. We respond to a civil court order only where it is valid and enforceable against us, and we do not disclose the content of communications in civil matters unless the account holder consents or a court with authority over us orders it.

Users who want their own information can request a copy from Profile, under Privacy and Safety.

Requests to remove content

An authority that wants content removed because it is illegal should write to support@velovid.net with the legal order or a clear explanation of which law the content breaks, and identify the content precisely. We review it against the law and our Community Guidelines, and where a restriction applies in one country only, we may limit it to that country.

Costs and testimony

We may ask to be reimbursed for the cost of answering a request that is unusually large or burdensome, where the law allows. Our records can be accompanied by a written certificate of authenticity. We do not provide expert witness testimony.

Contact

Velovid Software, 28 Makram Ebeid Street, Apartment 3, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt. Legal requests from authorities: support@velovid.net.

This address is also our single point of contact under Article 11 of the EU Digital Services Act for the authorities of EU Member States, the European Commission and the European Board for Digital Services. Put "DSA authority" in the subject line. We accept requests in English and Arabic.