One of my nephews is an “independent phamaceutical contractor,” and he recently texted me about some “merchandise” I might be interested in. We’ve been texting back & forth about quality, price, etc.
Is there a possibility that somebody at my carrier (AT&T, for the record) is wise to our conversation and could forward this information on to the authorities? Are text messages archived somewhere and can be used as evidence?
DISCLAIMER: You are not my attorney, I am not your client, blah blah blah.
I find it exceptionally unlikely that the carriers sort through the text messages looking for illicit behavior. That sets them up for all sorts of trouble, they are not law enforcement and it would be expensive as hell.
That said if law enforcement gets wise to you they can tap those communications and force the carrier to retain your messages.
There is a chance the US government may be reading stuff via Carnivore (or something similar) but again remember there is a HUGE volume of data traffic in the US. Presumably they are looking for terrorists or really, really big fish to bust.
In the end though I would not rely on any electronic communication to “safe” from law enforcement or even a pissed off ex-wife. Things like electronic messages have a way of lingering out there.
The actual texts may not be held onto for long but one of the first things the local “pharma task force” does when they bust someone is to subpeona all the offenders phone records.
So they may not know what was said or texed, but they do know who he was ‘dealing’ with over the phone.
Unless you’re a drug trafficker you probably don’t have to worry about DEA busting down your door to serve a search warrant due to a text over a dime bag. Nevertheless, assume everything you type/text is stored somewhere for at least a year (because generally it is even if “deleted” by you).
When texting with my pals we often make the communications sound illicit. “I have 5 pounds if you have the money ready” when my gf asked me to pick up coffee, for instance. The door hasn’t been kicked in yet.
I suppose if you really care you might want to do that.
Nevertheless I think it opens the company to all sorts of trouble they do not want. IIRC some ISP (many years ago now) said they sorted through messages on their system to ensure “bad stuff” (so to speak) was stopped. Some guy slandered a New York trading firm on their system and the trading firm sued the ISP because they did not stop it.
I may have the details wrong but the thing is once you take responsibility for a thing you assume some liability if you get it wrong. What if they reported kayaker to the police and he got his door kicked down? Could kayaker sue them? What if they miss someone texting about killing someone else?
All sorts of problems crop up. Their best solution is to just not go there. They are not law enforcement. It is not their job. Their is no upside to them and a helluva lot of downsides (if nothing else significant cost to do it).
Nah…they won’t bother looking unless the police or a court asks them to.
Several years ago I lost my cell phone. I figured if the thief turned on my phone my cell phone company could direct police to it. My cell phone carrier almost laughed at me when I suggested they do that. Tough shit for me…go buy a new phone.