Hi all, as someone going in to pre-law this interests me quite a bit. We all know text messages, facebook messages, and many other correspondences and info can be accessed with a subpoena.
Certain questions, however, arise. How can I permanently get rid of facebook messages, text messages, emails, and other digital content? How long do various companies store data on their servers, and what are their policies in disclosing this data?
Additionally, if data CAN be accessed, is it ACTUALLY being accessed? (As of about 5 years ago it was possible to subpoena your google searches from google, but it had never been done before. I'm unable to come up with current info on this subject.
Please add to available info if you have any, but DO NOT speculate. CITE EVIDENCE of any claims, please. Nobody cares what you assume, or what your uncle, brother, or friend said. Only real verifiable facts.
I'll update this first post with more information as I comb further, because I have quite a bit on mobile providers and facebook. To start:
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Verizon keeps records of your text messages for up to 10 days. These records are not available to the user, but available to law enforcement. After 10 days, the specific content of the message is lost, but other details remain accessible indefinitely (time, date, sender/recipient).
Source: https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/215693/
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After a facebook account is deleted, there is a 14 day wait before identifying information (Names, email address) are actually removed from the servers. After 14 days, though the data is not written over, all meta data is deleted and no saved content is identifiable to you. Facebook officials claim they could not recover the data if asked.
Though the data is no longer identifiable to you, it may exist somewhere, as facebook hangs on to photos, notes, and other data. For practical purposes, the content of your facebook cannot be subpoenaed 14 days after deletion. If you deleted your facebook less than 14 days ago, it is 100% available to authorities. Deleted facebook accounts have been subpoenaed in criminal investigations.
Sources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20005556-245/deleting-your-facebook-account-faq/
http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/litigationnews/top_stories/111610-social-networking-discovery-privacy.html
Edited by shaggyp (02/03/13 09:15 PM)
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