Government Requests Policy

1. What this policy covers

How Vokx ("Vokx") handles requests from police, courts, regulators and other public authorities, in India or elsewhere, for the personal data of people who use the Service.

We treat your data as yours. We hand it over only when the law obliges us to, and we do not give any authority direct, bulk or real-time access to our systems, or build ways around our encryption.

2. How a request must reach us

• In writing, sent to grievance@vokx.app from an official address, signed by an officer with the power to make it, citing the law it is made under, and naming the account, the data and the period it concerns.
• We do not answer informal requests, phone calls or requests that do not name a legal basis. Foreign authorities must go through the process Indian law provides for them, such as a mutual legal assistance treaty.
• In an emergency involving imminent danger to someone's life or safety we may act on a request before formal process arrives; it must follow promptly.

3. We review the legality of every request

Before anything is disclosed, every request is reviewed for: whether the authority has the power to make it, whether it has a valid basis in law (for example the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and its rules, or the DPDP Act), whether it is in the proper form, and whether what it asks for is necessary and proportionate.

The review, the reviewer and their reasoning are recorded. Nothing is disclosed on a request the review has not found lawful.

4. We challenge requests we consider unlawful

If a request is unlawful, overbroad, unclear or not in the proper form, we ask the authority to correct or narrow it, decline it, or challenge it before the competent court or authority, as the circumstances call for.

While a challenge is pending we preserve the data concerned where the law requires it, but do not disclose it.

5. We disclose only the minimum necessary

• We answer only for the account, the categories of data and the period a valid request covers, and nothing more. A request for subscriber information is answered with account details only, never recordings, transcripts or summaries. Content is disclosed only where the law specifically requires it.
• A preservation request is met by keeping the data for the period it names, not by handing it over.
• Recordings and meetings in an organisation's workspace belong to that organisation. Where the law allows, we direct the authority to the organisation first.

6. We tell the person concerned

We tell you about a request for your data before we disclose anything, so you can seek legal advice, unless the law or a court order forbids it, or telling you would put someone in danger. When such a restriction ends, we tell you then.

7. We document every request

Each request is recorded in an encrypted register: the authority and the officers involved, the legal basis, what was asked for, our assessment of its legality and the reasoning behind it, any challenge, our response, exactly what was disclosed and when, and who at Vokx handled each step. Access to the register is itself logged.

These records are kept even if the account they concern is deleted, so that every disclosure can be accounted for.

8. Contact

Authorities and people with questions about this policy can write to Grievance Officer, grievance@vokx.app, Vokx.