If you want to keep your text messages completely private, and out of the hands of law enforcement, then Verizon is not the provider for you.

 

According to a confidential U.S. Department of Justice document (obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union) from last year, Verizon is the only major cell phone company (among AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) that stores every customer’s text messages for at least five days. None of the other companies keep such data for any length of time.

 

T-Mobile stores information on whom a person exchanges text messages with for up to five years. Sprint does it for 18 months and AT&T seven years. Verizon keeps its lists for only one year.

 

Verizon also leads in the length of times it retains IP session information (what web sites a person visits).

 

All of the big four telecoms keep records for at least a year of which cell phone towers people access.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Which Telecoms Store Your Data the Longest? Secret Memo Tells All (by David Kravets, Wired)

Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers (U.S. Department of Justice) (pdf)