Using Kik. (Photo: Hashgram)

The inevitable tween regime has further secured its reign with the news that more and more messages are being sent via chat apps, eclipsing SMS for the first time. According to important new research, more than 19 billion texts are sent every day on apps such as iMessage, WhatsApp and others, compared to 17.6 billion SMS messages.

The stats are likely giving telco companies a reason to quiver. Informa estimates that the companies make $120 billion yearly from texting, but the rapidly growing sector apps could endanger that figure. By the end of 2013, the number of messages sent on the “over the top” programs are estimated to double to 40 million. Meanwhile, SMS messages are only expected to rise two billion during the same period.

Of course, the major reason people are beginning to prefer apps like MessageMe is because they're entirely free, with no cost to download or send messages. On average, users send 33 messages per day on the apps, compared to just five SMS messages.

Ted Livingston, the chief executive of tween-favorite Kik, told Financial Times that he is already starting shiva for texting plans:

“I think killing text messaging is going to be inevitable as people switch to [mobile] data plans...If I can get something that is just as good for free, rather than paying for it, I’ll probably take it for free.”

Let’s see how true that holds when his investors start whispering about monetization.

Hullo there. (Photo: flickr.com/nate)

Hey, it's the 20th anniversary of the invention of text messaging! How shall we celebrate? How about with an attempt by law enforcement agencies to make sure they have access to your old SMS messages, in case they need to issue any search warrants?

CNET reports:

A constellation of law enforcement groups has asked the U.S. Senate to require that wireless companies retain that information, warning that the lack of a current federal requirement "can hinder law enforcement investigations."

Currently there's no standard industry practice on archiving text messages. As recently as 2010, T-Mobile (for example) wasn't saving them at all--though that doesn't mean you should use their wireless services to plan your next bodega robbery. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is currently considering possible revisions to the 1986 Electronic Communications Act, which is now woefully outdated, and cops want a requirement they (or at least the logs of who texted who when) be retained for two years.

If the measure is adopted, it'll mean carriers have to hold on to quite a bit of data: CNET says there were more than 2 trillion text messages sent in the U.S. alone over the last year.

Luckily the measure hasn't been adopted yet, so there's still time to move all communications with your drug dealer over to trained pigeons.

This guy's not reading your texts. They promise.

The London (Sunday) Times has claimed--in an article behind its paywall--that Facebook has read texts by users who use the social networking giant's smart phone apps. Facebook allegedly did this while looking into a message service of its own. The Times also noted that other major Web companies such as Flickr and Yahoo Messenger have accessed similar data.

Facebook, however, has issued a 'clarification' in response to a query from Business Insider, stating "There is no reading of user text messages." The statement then explains why read/write app permissions in the Android version of its application may have given rise to rumors about the company reading messages. Facebook then argues it isn't exactly working on its own messaging utility:

That's not necessarily what we're working on. SMS can be used for carrier billing (where users opt to pay for things like apps through their phone bill). Again – that's not to say we're launching this. It's just an example of why an app might use these permissions. The Sunday Times leap to the conclusion that is was (sic) a messaging feature.

Anyway – we have yet to make any such features available to the public. (so the Sunday Times is completely wrong when it says Facebook is reading people's SMS. Wrong on the terminology, and wrong on the suggestion that it has been implemented)

So... a careful reading suggests Facebook could read your texts via the app if it wanted, particularly if you have an Android phone, but it's totally not.