It`s happened in Asia and Europe, so there`s no reason to believe it doesn`t happen here as well, especially considering the number of paranoid autocrats still ruling in Africa.
Telephone tapping is nothing new, but the apparent prevalence of mobile phone tapping is a worrying trend.
A few years ago, The Observer in Germany claimed it had obtained documents that outlined government plans to build centres across Europe, equipped to tap every type of communications system - including mobile phones and the Internet.
While that remains speculative, perhaps more worrying is the current case in China, where the government has openly admitted it will read all SMS messages in search of "false political rumours" and "reactionary remarks", as well as crack down on pornographic content.
China is one of the world`s largest economies, expected by many to be the next world-superpower. Will this paranoia soon become the norm around the globe?
Latest statistics show that upwards of 30 billion SMS messages are sent globally each month. Has paranoia reached such a stage that certain factions feel the need to read every SMS ever sent? And what about the network providers? Shouldn`t they take some sort of action to protect their customers?
Nevertheless, you have to pity the poor souls who have been designated to sift through literally billions of mundane messages, to find the one that may possibly have some inkling of importance. Exactly how much important information is actually sent via SMS anyway?
If I were a rebel trying to stage a political coup, I would probably want to organise a face-to-face meeting of some sort, rather than SMSing my brothers in arms: "Dave, we`re overthrowing govt again. Meeting at 'THE` place. Get Jim 2 bring guns. Dress warmly;-)".
Also, think about the time and cost involved with SMSing each of the, say, 10 000 mercenaries needed for a successful overthrowing of government. It would make more sense to phone or meet in private.
Surely monitoring SMS is a massive waste of government`s time?
The topic brings up the age-old question of where government`s right to know infringes on the individual`s right to privacy.
Damian Clarkson, junior journalist, ITWeb
The topic brings up the age-old question of where government`s right to know infringes on the individual`s right to privacy. The point of sending an SMS is that it`s a private thought you want to share with someone.
When sending an e-mail, or speaking on the phone, we are generally alert to the possibility of someone else being privy to that interaction, so we try to keep the level of personal information as low as possible. With an SMS, society generally assumes that, provided you type the number in correctly, it is a personal interaction between you and the person you send it to.
Even if the information is not that personal, should government - or anyone - have the right to know that "I`m busy in a meeting" or "we`re out of milk"?
The issue of SMS privacy was again highlighted in an ongoing court case in America, where basketball star Kobe Bryant stands accused of rape. SMSs sent by the plaintiff after the alleged incident took place have been accepted as admissible evidence in the case.
This is a worrying development, because the simplified nature of the SMS makes it impossible to put the message into context. No one knows what was said or done before or after the message was sent. What if someone misspelled a word? With the increasingly popular predictive text, it is possible for unassuming words like "debug" and "script" to become "death" and "rapist".
So now the menial messages you send to friends could conceivably be scrutinised in the greatest detail by a courtroom full of people. Is the humble SMS becoming so important that we need to think about hiring a proof-reader for them?
Even worse, an SMS doesn`t disappear into the abyss when you delete it. Rather, it is stored on a server, waiting to be recalled at any stage.
It makes you think twice about pressing the 'send` button in the first place as there`s too much pressure involved.
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