US in contact with India, UAE over Blackberry security issue

"There are issues attached to freedom of information, the flow of information, the use of technology. We are in touch with these governments," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news briefing.

"We're going to try to understand what their concerns are, the nature of the ongoing negotiations that they have with this particular company.

"And then you've touched on that there are number of countries that are in the midst of these negotiations and we'll see what the implications are," Crowley said in response to a question.

His comments came as Indian security agencies demanded that Blackberry allow them to monitor its services. It also comes close on the heels of Saudi Arabia ordering local cellphone providers to halt BlackBerry service, saying it failed to meet regulatory requirements.

Dubai will ban some of the Blackberry services from October 1.Crowley said there are legitimate security concerns attached to certain technologies and the flow of information around the world. "We understand those concerns. We want to best understand what's behind those concerns."

"At the same time, we do support the flow of information, the available technology which does empower people. We are in touch, given that this issue has come up in a variety of countries, we are reaching out to those countries – have a discussion to understand the nature of their concerns and see if we can find solutions," he said.

Noting that it is about not only the free flow of information, but it's the availability of technology, he said the cell phone in its various iterations has, in fact, opened up a new world of information to people around the world.

"It is empowering them to do many unique and different things. We are broadly supportive of trends to bring technology to bear to help people who have not had access to information before.

Knowledge is power. And to the extent that you can bring knowledge through portable devices to more people around the world, this has the ability to transform societies," said Crowley.

"Speaking globally, it's not about any one device. It's not about any one network. It is about how you are using technology to open up new doors and opportunities," he said. (Devices like a cell phone can be empowering in terms of providing market information, details on crops – disease-resistant crops, and how people in small communities in the middle of Africa can benefit from the information that’s now widely available around the world, Crowley said.

"So it is not about any one device. It’s not about any one network. We’re trying to see how we can make these technologies more broadly available and they can be utilised in a variety of different ways to help build institutions, accountability, and other trends in key countries," Crowley said.

There are about a million users of BlackBerry services in India at present. The security agencies in India apprehended that BlackBerry services in the present format posed a serious security threat.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had warned RIM that it would ban BlackBerry's operations if the security concerns were not addressed.
BlackBerry's encrypted emails and data are stored on servers in Canada, the headquarters of its maker, Research in Motion. That means that third parties, such as security agencies, cannot monitor communications sent and received on the handset.