These are governments that cater exclusively to politicians. 30% of said politicians are hardened criminals. One should expect arbitrary arrests for private opinion.
It's not clear to me that the content of BBM messages is available. The article(s) only mention getting access to delivery reports (i.e delivered/read).
If people are using non-encrypted mail, then that was already 'insecure' so this news report doesn't indicate anything new in that respect (other than getting access via BlackBerry).
Indian access to BIS is nothing new. They've been doing that since at least 2011. This is BlackBerry Internet Service, where the mail infrastructure is partially controlled by RIM. As far as I understand the BlackBerry Infrastructure, RIM can't give access to BES (Enterprise) Servers.
Even if you're not part of an enterprise, you can run a BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express at home or in a datacenter. With your own encryption keys protecting communication between the phone and your server. In order to grant access to the government, RIM would have to steal your key. Possible, but unlikely. Security is one of the few reasons why RIM still ships phones.
Much was made of this when it was first announced a few months ago, but in reality it just puts India on par with most other major governments. When proper procedure is followed, BIS communication records can be obtained - in the same way a carrier hands over records in the US when a warrant is served. (Or without a warrant, as the case may be...)
BlackBerry still can't provide access to BES communication -- and this what India was actually pushing hard for.
Giving the Indian government access to BBM and BIS was a requirement to operate as a messaging service in India. People shouldn't be upset with BlackBerry for complying with regulations; outrage should be directed at the government for creating and enforcing these regulations.
If the US government decreed 'Phones made with white plastic are no longer allowed, they can not be sold in our country', would you get upset with Apple for only selling black iPhones in the US?
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 25.8 ms ] thread- Michael Corleone
If people are using non-encrypted mail, then that was already 'insecure' so this news report doesn't indicate anything new in that respect (other than getting access via BlackBerry).
Even if you're not part of an enterprise, you can run a BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express at home or in a datacenter. With your own encryption keys protecting communication between the phone and your server. In order to grant access to the government, RIM would have to steal your key. Possible, but unlikely. Security is one of the few reasons why RIM still ships phones.
BlackBerry still can't provide access to BES communication -- and this what India was actually pushing hard for.
If the US government decreed 'Phones made with white plastic are no longer allowed, they can not be sold in our country', would you get upset with Apple for only selling black iPhones in the US?
The I'm genuinely scared about is what about the Russian, Chinese, Iranian (?) intelligence services would do with information like that