LUMEN TRUST & SAFETY FAQS FOR THIRD-PARTY REQUESTORS

Last Updated: August 19, 2021

Welcome to the LES FAQ Page designed for Third Party Requestors. As a third party, you may be an attorney or party in a lawsuit looking for information about someone else. You are not a Law Enforcement Agent, nor are you a Lumen customer seeking your own records. Please select an FAQ below. 

• Where do I send a legal demand?
• What kinds of records are available to a third party?
• What time frames are various records available to a third party?
• What are the fees, if any, for Trust & Safety assistance?
• What are the Trust & Safety team's hours of operation?
• What kinds of legal processes are there that would request customer information from Lumen?
• Who can I contact about identity theft or fraud related to a Lumen service?
• Can Lumen offer legal advice?
• How can I find out about the status of a subpoena?
• What is a Copyright subpoena?
• What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA?
• What is the difference between a DMCA notice and notification of a copyright subpoena?
• Does Lumen track internet content?
• What is the difference between a Dynamic and a Static IP Address?
• If I know the IP Address, how do I find the Internet Service Provider?
• How do I find the Service Provider for a telephone number?
• Who do I call if I received a call from a missing person?
• How can I contact the Trust & Safety team if I still have questions?

See additional FAQ about the Call Trace  feature.

Internet Protocol (IP) Subscriber Information
Internet Protocol information may include the name, address, associated phone number, user ID and time logs of the assigned Lumen customer. Lumen cannot process requests for IP subscriber information without being provided an exact date, time and time zone. Please note that no information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information. Applicable fees may apply.


Local Call Detail
Lumen customers are charged for dial tone, not per call; therefore local call detail will not appear on their bill.

Records of local calls are not maintained in the normal course of business. To attempt to retrieve local call detail, Lumen must perform an extensive search of raw switch data and then attempt to assemble the relevant data into a report that can be understood by the requesting party. There is no guarantee that any particular local call record will be obtained. Applicable fees may apply. to any requesting party, including Law Enforcement agencies because this is data that is not maintained in the normal course of Lumen's business. No information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information.


Pay Phone Records
Lumen is a rebiller of payphone services. We can provide the location of a payphone without a subpoena since that is public knowledge.

Lumen can only provide call detail records on a payphone with a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand and only if it is on Lumen's network.

To attempt to retrieve call detail, Lumen must perform an extensive search. There is no guarantee that any particular call record will be obtained. Applicable fees may apply  to any requesting party, including Law Enforcement agencies.


Payment
Payment information may include records of bank, credit card or electronic fund transfer payments. Please note that no information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information. Applicable fees may apply.

Subscriber

Subscriber, or customer, information may include customer name, physical address and billing address. Please note that no information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information. Applicable fees may apply.


Toll / Long Distance Call Detail
An itemized list of outgoing toll/long distance calls, incoming collect calls, calling cards or third party billed calls may be available on a billing statement. If a customer has an unlimited long distance plan, an itemized list may not appear on the billing statement. Prior to billing, Lumen may not be able to provide all information that will ultimately appear on the customer's billing statement. No information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information. Applicable fees may apply.


Voice Messaging
Access to a Lumen customer's voice mail messages requires a search warrant or court order. Lumen cannot retrieve voice‑mail messages once the customer deletes the message, or once the customer's service has been disconnected.

What time frames are various records available to a third party?

• Billing Systems data - 6 years plus current year.
• Call Detail records - 1 year minimum.
• Internet IP Address information - Rolling 12 months.
• Long Distance billing records - 6 years plus current year.
• Voice Messages - Current messages are available based on certain dependencies for example, if account has not been disconnected, or the message has not been deleted.

What are the fees, if any, for Trust & Safety assistance?

Lumen charges fees for the collection of data simply to cover the cost of complying with court orders, subpoenas or other legal demands. Most of the fees charged do not compensate Lumen for the total cost of compliance.

Applicable fees may apply

What are the Trust & Safety team's hours of operation?

Lumen's Trust & Safety team's hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm Central time, excluding holidays.

What kinds of legal processes are there that would request customer information from Lumen?

Civil Subpoena
A Civil Subpoena is a discovery request for information used in civil proceedings between private parties. Civil subpoenas may be issued by the attorneys representing the parties in the case. Although there is no legal obligation, it is Lumen's general practice to provide notice to its customers of any civil subpoena requesting the customer's information in order to provide the customer with an opportunity to file an objection in the court where the civil case is filed.

Criminal Subpoena/Search Warrant
A Criminal Subpoena, or Search Warrant, is a discovery request for information in criminal investigations or formal proceedings. Most criminal subpoenas/search warrants are signed off on by a judge after a review of the law enforcement agency's application. A court case does not have to be filed prior to the issuance of an investigative subpoena or search warrant. Often, an investigatory subpoena will contain an order that the customer cannot be notified of the request for information.

Court Order
A Court Order is an order issued by a judge presiding over a civil or criminal case demanding information be released to the court. Court orders are required for the release of the "content" (for example, information contained in emails or web site visits, wiretaps, etc.) of a customer's communication.

Can Lumen offer legal advice?

No, Lumen can neither provide more information about a subpoena itself nor provide legal advice to you regarding any objections or questions you may have. Please consult with an attorney for legal assistance.

A team member will respond within 1 business day.

What is a Copyright subpoena?

A copyright owner may serve a subpoena on a service provider, like Lumen, requesting the identity of a customer alleged to be infringing on the owner's copyright by, for example, illegally downloading a movie to the customer's computer. The subpoena is issued by the clerk of any United States District Court upon a request by the copyright owner, or one authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is also known as the DMCA, was enacted by Congress in 1998 to help service providers (like Lumen) and copyright owners deal with some of the legal challenges created by digital media on the Internet. Among other things, the DMCA established guidelines and processes for copyright owners to send notices of alleged copyright violations to service providers. The notice identifies a particular copyright offense that is alleged to have occurred, the date and time of the activity, and the internet protocol (IP) address of the network or system on which the activity occurred. Access the U.S. Copyright Office's summary of the DMCA.

What is the difference between a DMCA notice and notification of a copyright subpoena?

A DMCA notice is provided for informational purposes only when Lumen is advised under the DMCA customers may have violated established guidelines. Under a DMCA notice none of your personal information will be released to a third party.

When you receive a notification of a subpoena from Lumen, it means that your subscriber information has been requested in a civil lawsuit and that Lumen is required to release that information if you do not file an objection with the court.

Does Lumen track internet content?

Lumen uses information generated on our networks to manage, plan, and develop networks, and to ensure reliability and efficiency of those networks. For example, we monitor data to check for viruses, control spam, prevent attacks that might disable our services, ensure traffic does not violate our subscriber agreements or our acceptable use policies, and guard against other inappropriate or illegal activity. This may involve looking at the characteristics of our network traffic, such as traffic volumes, beginning and ending points of transmissions, and the types of applications being used to send traffic across our network.

In limited circumstances, we need to look into the content of the data (such as the specific websites being visited, files being transmitted, or applications being used) for the purposes described above. We may also look into the content of the data when Lumen is concerned about fraud or harassment, to repair a detected problem, or when we are providing the content of broadband traffic to Law Enforcement when required and authorized by law.

Most of the specific information we obtain that is attributable to a user is kept only for a matter of hours or days. We may retain data for longer if, for example, we see patterns in the traffic that give us concerns about potential harm to our network, or if we are doing a specific study on the impact of certain applications used on our networks. We also may retain logs of the total amount of data transmitted, and the date, time, and duration of access to the Internet through our services by a user, including the user's IP address at the time.

For more information, visit Lumen’s Privacy Notice.

What is the difference between a Dynamic and a Static IP Address?

Dynamic IP Addresses change every time a user connects to the Lumen network. The majority of Lumen customers have Dynamic IP addresses. IP addresses are not specific to a certain city or state. The customer may be issued any IP address that is assigned to the switch's service area. The switch may cover multiple cities and states.

Static IP Addresses remain the same and are typically used by Large Businesses or Government Entities.

If I know the IP Address, how do I find the Internet Service Provider?

You can access the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN) website to identify the Internet Service Provider of an IP address. Use the 'Search WHOISRWS' function located on the top of ARIN's home page.

ARIN is not maintained by Lumen. Lumen cannot ensure the accuracy of the results provided by ARIN.

How do I find the Service Provider for a telephone number?

Telcodata is a website that will locate the name of the Telecommunication Service Provider when provided with an area code and prefix. This site will also break down the area code and prefix on "pooled numbers" which are numbers split between several different service providers. For example, 720-287 is pooled between 4 different service providers. Telcodata will show which Service Provider handles each pooled set of numbers.

Telcodata is not maintained by Lumen. Lumen cannot ensure the accuracy of the results provided by Telcodata.

Who do I call if I received a call from a missing person?

Always contact your local Law Enforcement Agency and they will contact Lumen for assistance.

In addition to contacting Law Enforcement, you may consider reviewing the FAQ on our Call Trace.