E-Mail Content

AOL does not, in the ordinary course of business, retain any active account holder e-mail that is not also accessible by the user. In other words, for active account holders, AOL has what the account holder has, and nothing more. AOL does not archive account holder deleted e-mail. Parties are therefore encouraged to request the information they are seeking from the AOL account holder directly.

If a party still insists on obtaining e-mail content from AOL , AOL requires account holder authorization or a court order, issued to the account holder, not to AOL , in order to release e-mail. The order should require the account holder to give AOL permission to release the contents of their account. Upon receipt of the court order, AOL will require the account holder to sign an authorization form. Our authorization form can be found here. AOL will only release the e-mail to the account holder or to the court, not to any other party and will not parse through the e-mail account. AOL does not have the resources to run key word searches or date ranges against the contents of an e-mail account. Therefore, the entire e-mail account will be produced to the account holder or to the court.

Because accounts that were created as free e-mail accounts cannot be verified [through address and payment information], we will not release e-mail content of free AOL accounts, even to the account holder.

A subpoena or court order issued to AOL will not suffice to release e-mail content. See, In re Subpoena Duces Tecum to AOL ,LLC , 550 F. Supp. 2d 606 (E.D.Va. 2008) (A civil discovery subpoena is not an exception to the provisions of the Privacy Act that would allow an internet service provider to disclose an account holder's e-mail. The exception for production pursuant to court order does not apply to civil discovery matters.); Flagg v. City of Detroit , 2008 WL 3895470 (E.D. Mich. 2008) (“[The Stored Communications Act] lacks any language that explicitly authorizes a service provider to divulge the contents of a communication pursuant to subpoena or court order.”); Barnes v. CUS Nashville, LLC , 2010 U.S. Dist. Lexis 52263 (M.D. Tenn. 2010).

Account Holder Information

AOL will release non-content account information upon receipt of a properly issued subpoena.

AOL , its records, and its Custodian of Records, are located in Loudoun County , Virginia . AOL 's headquarters are in the State of New York . AOL accepts subpoenas that are properly issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 and applicable state laws.

For all properly issued subpoenas, service should be made upon our registered agent:

Corporation Service Company
Bank of America Center, 16th Floor
1111 East Main Street
Richmond , Virginia 23219

Upon receipt of a valid subpoena seeking non-content information, it is AOL 's policy to promptly send notification to the account holder whose information is sought.  In some instances AOL may be required to produce business records that might incidentally contain member information. In those cases,  AOL will not be able to notify the account holder and will release the information without notice. But in most instances, AOL will not produce the subpoenaed account holder information until 10 business days after the account holder has been notified, so that the account holder whose information is sought will have adequate opportunity take legal action.

AOL will issue invoices for the costs associated with subpoena compliance. AOL charges $150.00 per hour for research and administrative costs and $14.00 for overnight mail. AOL will invoice the subpoenaing party prior to production, and payment must be made prior to the production of the subpoenaed information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

I am an account holder and would like AOL to send me copies of all of my emails.

If you are the account holder, AOL does not have access to any information that you are not able to access yourself. If you need access to your account or to change your password, please contact Customer Service.

I am an AOL account holder and I deleted some email accidentally. Can AOL send me my deleted mail?

 AOL does not retain archives of deleted account holder e-mail. AOL does not have access to any email that you are not able to access yourself

I am an attorney representing a party to a lawsuit. I would like AOL to send us all of the opposing party's e-mail related to certain key words and plan to send AOL a subpoena.

Pursuant to the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §2701 et seq ., except under very limited circumstances, AOL will only release the content of any e-mail from a paid AOL account with a valid court order issued to the account holder or with authorization from the account holder.

Moreover, AOL does not have the resources to search account holder e-mail by keywords or date ranges. Therefore, any e-mail released pursuant to a court order or authorization will be released to the account holder or the court, and will contain the entire contents of the e-mail account.

I am an attorney representing a party to a lawsuit and I need to find out who owns a particular e-mail account.

Because you are seeking identification information, and not e-mail content, AOL will release this information to you pursuant to a valid subpoena in accordance with our policy, above. However, AOL will only do so 10 business days after the account holder has been sent notification, so that the account holder whose information is sought will have adequate opportunity to take any legal action.