

As of 2010, Verizon Wireless saved text message content for three to five days while Virgin Mobile retained text message content for ninety days but stated that it would only disclose that content if law enforcement had a search warrant containing a “text of text” request. However, the majority of cellular service providers do not save the content of text messages at all. All of the providers retained records of the date and time of the text message and the parties to the message for time periods ranging from sixty days to seven years. The memorandum contained information from the six largest cell phone carriers in the United States: Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T/Cingular, Sprint, Nextel and Virgin Mobile. In 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) served a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request to the Department of Justice seeking an internal memorandum regarding the data retention plan of major cellular service providers.

They do not, however, retain the content of text messages for very long, if at all. The Text of Texts Are Often Only Available On The Device ItselfĬellular service providers retain records of the parties to a text message and the date and time it was sent. While the use of its products to get past passcodes might have garnered more public acclaim, one of the other less well known features is its ability to speedily uncover information that might have been previously unrecoverable, including deleted data and text messages.Ī.

What many practitioners don’t know is that the FBI, DOJ and the SEC have been using Cellebrite’s forensic cell-phone cracking tools for years. Cellular phone forensics company Cellebrite recently gained national notoriety for its rumored assistance in cracking the password of an iPhone related to the San Bernardino murders.
