Are Your Text Messages Secure?

The recent scandal over the numerous text messages between Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, and chief of staff, Christine Beatty, leave people worrying whether their own text messages are really secure.

Fortunately, most of us don't have to worry because just as cell phone conversations aren't recorded, neither are cell phone text messages. Since there isn't a federal law requiring they be kept by your cell phone provider, once you delete them, they are gone forever.

Sprint Phones

In the case of the mayor and chief of staff, their messages were recorded since they are city officials who were using specialized, city-owned Blackberry-type devices, called a SkyWriter. The SkyWriter records every message, from who is sending the message, to who is receiving it as well as the date, time and length of the text message, up to 2,000 characters. Had the mayor and chief of staff used regular text messaging cellular phones through Verizon, AT&T or Sprint, their messages wouldn't have been recorded.

Spokesmen for both Sprint and AT&T confirmed they do keep text messages in their system anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks. This is only for the purpose of making sure their customers receive those messages, in the event their cell phones were turned off or they were out of the network. This is pretty much the industry standard.

Since this text message scandal occurred, many people are wondering just how secure their text messages really are. In general, they are pretty private. While it's true that once you delete the messages, they are gone forever, if you have saved them on the cell phone's memory card, they can be retrieved even after they have been deleted. Retrieving them, however, is expensive and requires specialized companies. For .95 per month, a company called Radar, can download special software to a cell phone that would enable the messages to then be viewed via a website. This could be very beneficial to parents who want to keep an eye on their kid's text message activity.

As for emails sent through a mobile phone, people should be aware that they are kept on a server, much like they are on a regular computer which stores and archives the messages in electronic databases. If required by a subpoena, most emails can be retrieved and handed over to a court of law as legal evidence.

So, with all this information, it's perhaps a good time to remember what our mom used to say, "Don't say (or write) anything you don't want other people to find out."

Are Your Text Messages Secure?