Overview

Adobe, like all hosted service providers, is obligated to disclose Adobe user data when we receive valid legal process from a government agency. Since 2014, we have published this report annually to promote transparency and accountability for Adobe’s practices and policies, and for the legal process (“requests”) we receive from governments around the world.

(December 2023 - November 2024)
Last Updated: February 17, 2025

This report includes the following information on all the government requests for user data we’ve received over the course of our fiscal year 2024 (“FY 2024”):

  1. A breakdown of the requests and how we responded
  2. The products and services to which they relate

Our Policies and Process

Every request we receive is carefully reviewed by the Adobe Trust & Safety team to ensure law enforcement is entitled to the data they seek with the type of process they have obtained.

Notice: Our law enforcement policy includes providing advanced notice to the targets of a legal request unless legally prohibited from doing so by a nondisclosure order. When we can’t provide advanced notice because of a time-limited nondisclosure order, we provide notice to the user whose information was disclosed when the nondisclosure provision expires. Ultimately, we provide notice for all requests.

Sometimes, Adobe receives nondisclosure orders that are permanent (i.e., they expressly never expire) or indefinite (i.e., they say they will expire 'on further order of the court'). Permanent or indefinite gag orders are unconstitutional prior restraints on speech, and we challenge them in court.

No Backdoors: Adobe has not built ‘backdoors’ for any government – foreign or domestic – into our products or services. All government requests for user data need to come through the front door (i.e., by serving valid legal process upon the appropriate Adobe legal department). Adobe vigorously opposes legislation in the U.S. and overseas that would in any way weaken the security of our products or our users’ privacy protections.

Enterprise Customer Data: The overwhelming majority of requests to Adobe seek individual user data. In the rare instance where Adobe receives a request targeting disclosure of enterprise customer data, consistent with U.S. Department of Justice policy, Adobe always seeks to redirect the Government to obtain the data directly from the enterprise.

More information on our law enforcement response policies can be found here.

Notable Insights

Over the years, the total number of requests for data Adobe has received has remained relatively low..

Most of the legal process we have received are related to online child safety and financial fraud investigations:

  • 17% (32 out of the 189 total requests we received) of legal requests from the last fiscal year were follow-ups to CyberTips we’ve sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (read more on Adobe’s commitment to child safety here)
  • 26% (49 out of the 189 total requests we received) related to investigations of possible fraudulent purchases of Adobe’s goods or services

National Security Requests: To date, Adobe has not received any form of national security process, such as a National Security Letter (NSL) or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) order. For a more detailed breakdown of our requests, see the “Metrics” section below.

Metrics

(1) Breakdown of Requests Received and How We Responded

International Requests

Country
Number of requests
Number of accounts subject to request
Number of accounts some data was provided
Austria
1
1
0
Canada
1
2
2
China
1
1
1
France
7
3
0
Germany
39
37
17
India
4
2
0
Ireland
3
2
2
Slovakia
2
2
2
Spain
4
0
0
Switzerland
1
1
0
South Korea
22
27
21
UK
1
1
0
Total
86
79
45

U.S. Requests

Type of request
Number of requests
Number of accounts subject to request
Number of accounts some data was provided
Subpoena
63
296
289
Court order
2
3
3
Search warrant
38
44
41
Imminent harm
0
0
0
Total
103
343
333

Nondisclosure orders ("NDOs")

Adobe's response
Rationale
Number of NDOs
NDOs accepted
Time-limited NDOs (no push-back/objection needed)
68
Time-limited after we objected
5
NDOs rejected
Nondisclosure removed altogether after our objections
16
Total NDOs received
77

(2) Product and Service Breakdown

Government requests by service
Number of requests
Adobe ID or Adobe Subscriptions
184
Behance
1
Adobe Sign
2
Photoshop
1
Portfolio
1
Total
189
*If we are unable to find an account associated with an identifier, then we cannot tie the request back to any specific product

You can access Adobe’s other Transparency Reports here: