Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) cellular subsidiary Pelephone Communications Ltd. has decided to change its SMS storage policy in the wake of the harsh criticism it received after a lawsuit was filed against the company for saving subscribers' SMS messages.
Yesterday, Pelephone announced that in view of the media uproar and criticism about its practice, it would cease storing subscribers' SMS messages.
On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed with the Central District Court, with a request to turn it into a class action lawsuit, against Pelephone, accusing it of wiretapping, in that it stores all SMS messages sent and received over its network.
In cancelling this policy, Pelephone announced, "As of today, text messages will be deleted and no longer kept in the company's system as was the practice to date. We emphasize that all the messages were kept legally and in the most secure way, and were used solely for operational needs."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 30, 2009
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