Ask HN: How long do carriers store the content of SMS messages?

1 pointtdfx2 comments

This issue came up in a conversation I was having with someone who is currently in the midst of an ugly divorce. I seem to recall reading some Verizon or AT&T law enforcement documents on Cryptome indicating there was a period of 90 days or so that they are stored in case LE agencies need to request them. Am I remembering that correctly? Would this work the same in a civil proceeding?

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Given the willingness of the carriers to roll over for any quasi-legal government demands, I'd be surprised if the answer is not "forever". But I'd also be surprised if you were able to get access to them in a purely civil proceeding.

Mobile operators normally keep text message logs for a short period of time (a few hours or days depending on the operator). After that, they usually keep a CDR (Call detail records, which is information about the subscriber billing activities kept by Network operators) with data such as the time of the text message and the originator and destination of the message. But for privacy purposes the complete logs with the content are no longer available. Regarding matters such as lawsuits I know that text messages can be shown as evidence during the course of a trial in some countries, however, I am not sure when it is legal to get in touch with the operators to get SMS records from a particular user and for the phone companies to show their records for legal purposes to certain parties. I believe this also will depend on the country and legislation applicable.

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