I see a lot of recommendations for various services and products which are respect privacy, but I don’t think I have seen any discussion around cell phone carriers (service providers). I am aware of some of the advantages of using VOIP as a phone service. However, if VOIP is not desired, what are good options for an US phone carrier which provides a physical SIM or eSIM?
I am guessing I have not seen this discussed because phone calls and SMS texts come with inherent insecurities and can always be associated to your phone number. However, I would assume some carriers sell users data more heavily than others. If anyone knows some recommendations, or can explain what to look for, many thanks.
I don’t have anything particularly useful to your point, but in the US text messages (edit for clarity: SMS messages) are considered public record and nothing is needed to snoop around in them. Call records and recordings at least require a warrant.
The term “public record” usually refers to records that a government is required to maintain and make accessible to the public. In most states, I believe SMS messages sent by government employees while conducting official business are considered in-scope (though there may be other laws that make certain messages private).
As far as whether your SMS messages can be accessed by law enforcement without a warrant, it gets more complicated.
Older than 180 days? Fair game. A court or government agency can subpoena your provider without any requirement to notify you, per the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986.
Newer than 180 days? A warrant is required, but there are exceptions. For example, administrative subpoenas are allowed in cases of national security.
Records of incoming/outgoing calls require only a subpoena, same with cell tower geolocation data and IP addresses. However, wiretapping of actual calls requires a warrant.
The reality of how and when the government accesses your data in the real world is probably different than the laws as written, so of course take everything with a grain of salt. The best solution with text messages is at least E2E encryption so that the provider cannot store them. (Accessing messages stored on your device itself does require a warrant).
