Tech support staff handling these requests cannot possibly know the thousands of police departments sites to know if the site is legitimate.
You know who probably would be in a better position to know? Your corporate counsel. Chances are pretty high they not only know who to contact, they probably have additional contacts that your 'tech support' staff do not in the nearby agencies and beyond, not to mention having the actual knowledge on the response mechanisms that said agency requires for compliance with requests for corporate data.
Which forces me to ask this question: I understand that as technologists we probably have an abundance of confidence in the knowledge and skills we possess in our domain, so why are tech support staff even 'handling' legal requests at all?
The only "handling" they should be doing is "handing" whatever evidence or materials that have been requested directly to the company's legal counsel, who should have been the party liaising with the 'requestor'.
You expect any company to have on payroll corporate counsel 24/7 for emergency requests in like 200 jurisdictions ? .
Also in my experience counsel who practice civil and corporate law have very little experience with law enforcement. Companies don't generally keep lawyers who practice criminal law inhouse .
You expect any company to have on payroll corporate counsel 24/7 for emergency requests in like 200 jurisdictions ?
To an extent, yes as a matter of fact, or at minimum a Registered Agent. Because in almost all of those 200 Jurisdictions, for a majority of business types (including Corporations) a Registered Agent is required by law for exactly this purpose: to receive and help your company properly respond to legal requests.
I concur. You will note that I said “for a majority of”, not “all”. Even online businesses still, if they intend to register as a business entity and enjoy all that comes with registering a business, like business tax ID or EIN, they must register with a jurisdiction. Also note where I said having an attorney “or at minimum a Registered Agent”
You know who probably would be in a better position to know? Your corporate counsel. Chances are pretty high they not only know who to contact, they probably have additional contacts that your 'tech support' staff do not in the nearby agencies and beyond, not to mention having the actual knowledge on the response mechanisms that said agency requires for compliance with requests for corporate data.
Which forces me to ask this question: I understand that as technologists we probably have an abundance of confidence in the knowledge and skills we possess in our domain, so why are tech support staff even 'handling' legal requests at all?
The only "handling" they should be doing is "handing" whatever evidence or materials that have been requested directly to the company's legal counsel, who should have been the party liaising with the 'requestor'.