'US, Israel spying behind BlackBerry woe'

By Reuters

Saturday, 4 September 2010 9:57 AM

UNDER SUSPICION: Dubai police chief calls BlackBerry a spy tool

Concerns over Israeli access to BlackBerry data, and the use of the device by the United States to spy on the United Arab Emirates are behind the Gulf state's moves to curb the smartphone, Dubai's police chief said.

Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said: "The Unites States is the primary beneficiary of having no controls over the BlackBerry, as it has an interest to spy on the UAE." His remarks were carried by the website of the daily al-Khaleej on Friday.

Tamim added:"The West has accused us of curbing the liberties of BlackBerry users, while America, Israel, Britain and other countries are allowed access to all transferred data."

Tamim, who has been outspoken in blaming Israeli agents for the assassination of a top Palestinian militant at a Dubai hotel in January, did not say why Washington had an interest in spying on Western-allied UAE.

The UAE, where BlackBerry maker RIM has 500,000 users, has said it would suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and Web browser services from Oct11 until the government could get access to encrypted messages.

Blackberry won a reprieve on a shutdown in India last month, after RIM agreed to give India access to secure BlackBerry data, according to an Indian government source.

BlackBerry's Messenger application has spread rapidly in the Gulf where it is a popular business and social networking tool. But because the data is encrypted and sent to offshore servers, it cannot be tracked locally.

That has raised fears in security-conscious Gulf states, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, that a lack of access could fetter their ability to ferret out potential spies, assassins or Islamic militants, analysts say.

BlackBerry ban

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Posted by: Malcolm Amir Monday, 6 September 2010 12:36 PM[UAE]

I doubt very much any intelligence service worth it's salt would be using blackberry service for any kind of messaging/email. So this move has little to do with anything like that, and more about politics...

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Posted by: Charles Monday, 6 September 2010 11:23 AM[UAE]

Spies and terrorists also use cars, but i don't believe we are banning them quite yet. I do know that a blackberry makes most employees about 20% more productive in my experience and has become an essential tool in global business. Do we want to be first world, or Middle Ages? The policy makers need to compromise or find some solution, but please do not take away our BBs, we have enough issues and barriers as it is, let alone during these times of financial crisis.

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Posted by: Jack Murphy Sunday, 5 September 2010 12:33 PM[UAE] - Singapore

There is not one single server existing in the world - encryted or not) which is not under permanent control of the so called National Security of the US. Every internet message including mobile phones is an open book to them because the internet is owned by the US. The CIA or NSA are servants of US interests - not only for security purposes but more so for industrial or commercial competition. Who ever wants to comminicate privately has to avoid using devices operating through the internet.

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Posted by: Ahmed Sunday, 5 September 2010 11:49 AM[UAE] - UAE

Habeeb, I really think you need to read the article properly .. this has nothing to do with sms fees .. seriously some people need to first READ, second UNDERSTAND

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Posted by: Habeeb Sunday, 5 September 2010 4:57 AM[UAE]

I think this is to do more with the monetary issues because the BBM has actively replaced the SMS. The service provider looses about a Million a day because of this. It simple calculation... Moreover, technology that we use in everyday computing is created by them (US, Israel, etc) as well as the encryption that protects your data. It is like they are the locksmiths and make locks and hold a master key for all the locks they make. It's very simple actually for them to decrypt the messages which you think are heavily encrypted.

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