Hot Topic: Proposed text message storage law - Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

Hot Topic: Proposed text message storage law

Private text messages sent between friends and family members may soon be stored for up to two years if the Federal government has its way.

It is a controversial idea, but several national associations that represent law enforcement are pushing Congress to make your cell phone carriers store your text messages just in case police need it later.

How long the messages are stored depends on the carrier. According to Wired Magazine AT&T and T-Mobile discards messages immediately while Verizon keeps them for 5 days and Sprint up to 12 days. This proposed law would change that and make them available for up to two years.

Proponents say it is nothing new. A court order can allow law enforcement officials access to anything available from phone records to emails, but the problem is that text messages are not currently recorded on servers like emails.

An estimated six billion texts are sent in the United States every day.

So, we want to know -- Do you think storing text messages is an effective way to help law enforcement or does it feel like a potential invasion of privacy? Post your responses on our FOX 5 Atlanta Facebook page, tweet us @GoodDayAtlanta, or email us at goodday@myfoxatlanta.com! We'll read some of your responses during the 9 a.m. hour of Good Day Atlanta.

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