The Secret Service’s cell phones were “wiped” of all text messages…but doesn’t the cell service provider keep all texts sent over their service?

Question

The Secret Service’s cell phones were “wiped” of all text messages…but doesn’t the cell service provider keep all texts sent over their service?

In: 9

Answer 1

The messages were encrypted. So even if there is a record, the encryption key is gone (it was stored in the phone, which was erased). Without the encryption key, you can’t decrypt the message.