A new iPhone application has been developed for the would be international spy or the cheating spouse, with the latter more likely considering that this application is called TigerText rather HawkeText after Ethan Hawke from the Mission Impossible franchise.

TigerText allows mobile users to set time limits for text messages to be retained after being sent. When that time span has elapsed, the text message will automatically self destruct, wait a minute, automatically be deleted and will not be available on the mobile phone of the message sender, receiver or any intermediary server.

How does TigerText accomplish this? A person sends a secret message to his mistress using this software application. The mistress will receive notice that a text message is waiting for her but in order to read it, she must install an app. Once done, she can read the message, but she will not be able to save the message as the message was never really sent to her mobile phone. Instead, it resides on a TigerText server and after the time period that the sender set has elapsed, this message will be deleted from the server so that no one can read it. The auto-destruct can be set anywhere from one minute to five days and for the ultra security conscious, a “delete on read” setting is available which sets a timer to count down from 60 seconds with the message being gone forever one the countdown hits zero.

Jeffrey Evans is the developer of this application and he says that the name TigerText was in place before the recent Tiger Woods scandal and a decision was made to retain this name after the scandal broke. Although it does sound like this application would make its way onto the iPhones of philanderers, Evans points out the development of this application was because “People text like they talk,” “And some of the things they say, taken out of context, can come back to haunt them.”

He expects this iPhone application to be an invaluable tool for those with real privacy issues such as lawyers who may be sending time sensitive client information that should not be retained.

Via: Time