My 16 YROld daughter got a cell phone behind our back. Can I leagally access her records? She is out of contro

Question

She was caught recently texting a 25 yr old man for 3 hours until 4am. We have taken her phone, but she locked it down and we can't find any info. It is a Cricket phone. As her parents, can we go to Cricket and demand her text and phone records? Why can Cricket sell a phone to a 16 yr old?

Answer 1

You are responsible for your children until they are 18 or emancipated.

You can take her phone away but Cricket will be the problem. You will probably need a court order to access her phone records.

Answer 2

She may not've sought solace from a father figure if her parents didn't double as prison guards. You should be thrilled your daughter is responsible enough to foot the bill herself.

Answer 3

No.

Answer 4

You can call Cricket to get the unlock code and request a copy of the bill which will list the call detail. Unfortunately, without going to court, the text records are out as those don't show up on the bill. I would also let them know that she is underage and you want that number disconnected. Drop the phone off at the local police station as they give them to abuse victims to call 911 in emergencies- even with no service any cell phone will allow you to call 911. She probably had someone pick it up for her.

Answer 5

In case you haven't noticed it's perfectly legal to sell

bubble gum, bobby socks and cell phones to 16 year

olds. Anything but alcohol, tobacco or firearms.

I always find it amazing how parents seem so suprised

when their child gets out of control. I wonder where she

got all these terrible ideas from. Where have you been,

and what have you been too busy doing for the last 16

years of her life, that she should suddenly go bad ?

Probably trusting her education to the public schools,

using TV as a cheap baby-sitter, taking her to some

Christian church on Sunday to fill her head with c**p,

and mainly enjoying yourself while she has no proper

role models. Now you want to launch a Gestapo raid

on Cricket because they sold her a cell phone.

Sure, point the finger at them, don't look in the mirror.

But don't be suprised when the problem comes back

double somewhere else.

Sometimes I think we should require a license before

people can have kids... kids aren't born bad. They turn

out just like the environment they are raised.

Answer 6

As far as I know any contract entered into with someone under the age of majority (18 in the US) is potentially void. However, it may be that Cricket has a pay as you go service. In this case, there may be no contract.

You may or may not have the rights to access these records. This will probably be subject to the terms of service with the company. Of course you could probably hire an attorney to gain access. However, is it really worth it? Why not just take the phone away from her, take all of her personal items out of her room, the door of her room off its hinges and tell her she is grounded until she's 18 or until she starts acting responsibly and sensibly?

Answer 7

Get a cricket number of the package and call an ask what the standard universal code for unlocking the phone is.

Answer 8

I would say you probably have a pretty good case. When it comes to parents rights vs. minors' privacy, parental rights will get the trump card every time. You have every right to know who your daughter is talking to, particularly if it's with an adult who may be contributing to her delinquency.