Motel 6, one of the largest hotel chains in the United States, has introduced a policy forbidding its locations from sharing information on its guests with law enforcement unless they are compelled to.

The policy comes in the wake of the revelation last week that employees at some Motel 6 locations in the Phoenix area regularly handed over information on hotel guests to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, prompting some to be detained and deported.

Locations will give guest lists to the authorities only if it is compulsory, said Raiza Rehkoff, a spokeswoman for G6 Hospitality, the Texas-based parent company of Motel 6. She cited subpoenas, warrants and imminent threats to public safety as exceptions to the rule.

It is not illegal for hotels to turn over guest information but the expectation of privacy by guests is standard across the industry, according to Rosanna Maietta, the senior vice president of communications and public relations for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the national association representing all segments of the lodging industry, who said that no guest information should be turned over unless law enforcement requires it. But hotel brands aren’t consistent in expressing their policies.