After-hours Emergencies:
Yahoo! Security at 408-349-5400
San Jose FBIThis is also the contact information for rocketmail.com

Effective immediately, Yahoo will notify the subscriber about the receipt of legal process unless (1) prevented from doing so by law (e.g. a court order) or (2) there are “exceptional circumstances.”

Yahoo says that “exceptional circumstances” includes any case involving child pornography or child exploitation. If you are serving process on Yahoo in connection to such a case, they ask that you highlight the nature of your investigation on your fax cover sheet or in your cover letter and ask them not to notify the subscriber due to the nature of the case. Yahoo also considers PRTTs and Title IIIs to be “exceptional circumstances” (although practically this is likely to have little effect, since most court orders in this context contain language precluding the ISP from notifying the subscriber).

Other notable aspects of Yahoo’s new policy:

• The policy DOES NOT apply to preservation letters.

• Because the policy applies to any legal process seeking the disclosure of information, Yahoo WILL notify upon the receipt of a subpoena for basic subscriber information unless precluded by an order under 2705.

• For the foreseeable future, Yahoo will contact law enforcement before notifying the subscriber in order to give law enforcement an opportunity to either (1) get a court order precluding notification or (2) withdraw the process.

• Yahoo will preserve the account before notifying the subscriber.