Another link:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/secret-software-log...
Severely fucked up.
This seems like it might qualify as wiretapping to me. The carrier is storing the content of your text messages. That's not just being a carrier anymore.
Oops. Nope. Dead wrong on that one. Black and f'ing white: https://ssd.eff.org/wire/govt/wiretapping-protections Although it looks like having the program already on there allows them to call it "interception" which doesn't require a warrant at all. Doncha love it? We have long needed a "privacy amendment." It would solve so many problems.
"I'm sorry sir, is that a Bunsen burner I see there heating those beans? EVERYBODY OUT OF THE PARK!!!" Where is the accountability? It does not exist. These corps (and our govt) just push the envelope as far as they can, then go 10 steps further for good measure. And the penalties and fines, if they ever materialize at all, are just an insignificant cost of doing business.