The recent scandal over the numerous text messages private message between Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, and chief of staff, Christine Beatty, leave people worrying whether their own text messages are really secure.Fortunately, most of us don't have to worry because just as cell phone conversations aren't recorded, neither are cell phone text messages. Since there isn't a federal law requiring they be kept by your cell phone provider, once you delete them, they are gone forever.
In the case of the mayor and chief of staff, their messages were recorded since they are city officials who were using specialized, city-owned Blackberry-type devices, called a SkyWriter. The SkyWriter records every message, from who is sending the message, to who is receiving it as well as the date, time and length of the text message, up to 2,000 characters. Had the mayor and chief of staff used regular text messaging cellular phones through Verizon, AT&T or Sprint, their messages wouldn't have been recorded.
Spokesmen for both Sprint and AT&T confirmed they do keep text messages in their system anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks. This is only for the purpose of making sure their customers receive those messages, in the event their cell phones were turned off or they were out of the network. This is pretty much the industry standard.