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Social Networks provide intelligence to Private and Government Security Agencies about subscribers and users

by Courtesy

Concern that social networks to be targeted as BlackBerry helps British police identify rioters
Published on Friday 12 August 2011. – Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders is worried about cooperation between Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian manufacturer of the popular BlackBerry smartphone, and the British authorities in the wake of this week’s rioting in London and other cities in which, according to the authorities, rioters used its messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), to communicate with each other.

BBM uses the Internet rather than the mobile phone network and requires user authentication, which makes it hard for the authorities to intercept messages. To help address this difficulty, RIM has already provided Scotland Yard with information about a number of BlackBerry users, jeopardizing their personal data.

“We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can,” RIM announced on Twitter.

What consequences will this cooperation have on respect for the privacy of BlackBerry users? If information provided by RIM leads to arrests, questions will be raised about the validity of the evidence and the legality of the way it was acquired. Reporters Without Borders is also concerned about habeas corpus implications.

Reporters Without Borders is not minimizing the gravity of the situation in the United Kingdom and the urgency of the need to restore order, but it believes that the provision of personal data to the police sets a disturbing precedent in a western country and could have significant consequences as regards setting an example for others kinds of government.

Reporters Without Borders is also shocked by the statements of several politicians. David Lammy, the parliamentary representative for the London district of Tottenham, went so far as to ask BlackBerry to consider suspending its messaging service. This is an astonishing suggestion in a democracy, one with potentially grave consequences. The threats to freedoms are now real. …more