Blackberry users used to have this sense of security that their private conversations would remain private. That wont be the case for long. The Indian government is planning to take possession of servers and infrastructure owned by BlackBerry in Mumbai, according to a new report.
Users have known this to be coming for a while but the final steps for the Government to be able to monitor Blackberry communication is being taken now.
The report by Press Trust of India cited an internal telecom department note which recommended to initiate a “process to take over possession of BlackBerry infrastructure created at Mumbai for which a suitable agreement may be entered between Department of Telecommunication and Canada-based BlackBerry, manufacturer of the smart phone.”
The Indian government has been after the Canadian phone-maker to be able to decrypt messages being sent over Blackberry and also to be able to intercept communication over Blackberry when needed.
Last year, after negotiating with the Indian government wanting access to communication over Blackberry, the phonemaker gave in and said that it will set up servers in India to which authorities will have access to. RIM had offered to share technical codes for corporate email services but the Government insisted that the company set up servers in India which can be monitored by security agencies.
Blackberry has faced similar issues in other parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, the Government banned Blackberry messaging sometime back citing security reasons in 2010. The United Arab Emirates also threatened to block Blackberry services in 2010, unless the phone company allowed security agencies access to Blackberry communication.
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