The ACLU recently posted the 2010 cell phone data retention chart, which it received from the Justice Department under a Freedom of Information Act request. Included HERE is a clean copy of the report; but here is a summary of how long different American carriers keep your data lying around for law enforcement to access.
Location Tracking
data about which cell towers your phone uses.
- ATT: Forever
- Sprint and Nextel keep that information for 18-24 months
- Verizon stores it for 1 rolling year
“Detail” of your text
details include call history, date, time, senders phone number, and receiver’s phone number
- ATT: post paid 5-7 years, and does not retain content information at all
- Verizon: 1 rolling year and text content for 3-5 days
- T-Mobile: pre-paid 2 years and does not keep content at all
- Sprint and Nextel keep details for 18 months “depending on the device”and content
- Virgin Mobile: detail for 60-90 days and content for 90 days
IP information
this is your session information and browsing history
- Verizon: IP session information for 1 years and browsing history for 90 days
- T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile: Don’t store any
- Nextel and Sprint: store IP address and browsing history for 60 days
- ATT: IP session info is “only retained on non-public IPS for 72 hours, If public, not retained”
This may be information to consider the next time you enter a contract with a cell-phone provider. Privacy is NOT a right guaranteed under the US constitution or Bill of Rights; but you can use information to protect yourself.
About Laurize Mimay
Laurize Mimay is the Operations Manager for Michael Saad International and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm and supervision of it's divisions.
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