It’s time to make texting safer for everyone.

There is simple legislation that could be passed to make sure that text messaging is a secure form of communication. The Mobile Safety Advocacy Group is committed to getting this done.

Why lawmakers should support the Safer Texting Act

Every year, Americans exchange trillions of text messages from their smartphones. Many of these messages, including all texts exchanged between iPhones and devices that run the Android operating system, are sent via SMS, a thirty-year-old messaging standard.

SMS lacks basic security protections such as encryption, and doesn’t support common messaging features like the ability to exchange high-quality photos and show that users have received a message and are typing a reply. These features can be crucial tools for users in distress and the public safety officials that can help them.

Fortunately, there are well-known fixes for these shortcomings.

The Safer Texting Act outlines basic requirements for texting that would make all mobile users safer.

• If the messages are intercepted, anyone could read them. It's like sending a postcard in the mail.
  
• Low quality texts may obscure information in a law enforcement investigation like an eyewitness’ smartphone video of an incident .
  
• If someone is in an emergency situation, they need to trust that their messages are being delivered and they are communicating with another person in order to get the help they need.
  

• SMS cannot encrypt messages.
• SMS cannot send photos and video that today’s smartphones are able to capture without reducing their quality.
  
• SMS cannot show when a message has been delivered and when a reply is being typed.
  

Pew Research

Federal Communications Commission, 2023

Paid for by Mobile Safety Advocacy Group

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