Cell phones are standard parenting equipment. Kids can wander far from the house yet never be out of ear shot when an emergency arises. The phone means security to parents. It means freedom and power for kids. Madison was recently caught abusing her phone privileges. The evidence were text messages left in her inbox. It is nearly impossible to catch these incriminating messages because she is smart enough to promptly delete them.
I called Verizon to learn of any service that might let me review her text messages on-line or possibly have them forwarded to my phone. I’d expect something like this given Verizon charges $655.36 for 1 MB of text messages. The representative informed me that Verizon did not provide these kinds of services because each would be an invasion of privacy. Excuse me? I explained that I was her legal guardian and paid for the account. He explained that I would need a warrant in order to see the messages since I am not the owner of the phone. I thought I might register her phone in my name. I asked if Verizon could disclose to me my own text messages since there would be no privacy issue. He answered that the only way to view the message was on the phone or with a warrant. I find it hard to believe Verizon does not keep a record of these tiny messages. Google grants me 7 gigabytes of space for free. Verizon charges us a 7314% markup on data costs to send these God forsaken tendy messages. (Not that I’m bitter.)
American concept of “right to privacy” is a load of crap. You get back here young lady! Don’t think I won’t pursue that warrant!