Question

Negotiating Customer Privacy with Big Brother

In 2010, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone offered its corporate clients the ultimate in smartphone security. All messages were encrypted before leaving the device and then routed through a series of network operating centers in Canada. This security made it difficult for anyone to eavesdrop on BlackBerry calls, texts, or e-mails. As a result, the BlackBerry became the device of choice for many government and corporate clients.

Several countries, however, including India and the United Arab Emirates, became concerned that the security features would make it difficult for them to protect their citizens from criminals and terrorists. Their concern was not unfounded: the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India had been orchestrated using BlackBerrys.

In 2010, the UAE demanded that Research in Motion (RIM) provide a way for the UAE to monitor the communications of corporate BlackBerry users; otherwise, the government would shut down BlackBerry service in the UAE. How should RIM respond? Would it make a difference if RIM suspected that a country wanted its encryption codes primarily to crack down on political dissidents? Would RIM customers have a cause of action against RIM if information they expected to remain secure was secretly compromised?

Answer 1

Every customer gets associated with a company with a belief that his basic rights and privileges will not get compromised. UAE government is asking RIM to provide them a way in which communications of the corporate users of Blackberry phones can be monitored and tracked. This simply leads to privacy violations of the users and compromises their right to freedom and expression. RIM needs to explain this to the UAE government that this will be unethical. Also the security architecture of Blackberry is quite strong and it cannot be breached so easily. Even the company does not have key access to decrypt the customer’s data. Hence obliging to such a demand of the government can be quite difficult for the company.

RIM customers will certainly have a cause of action against RIM if they feel that their security is getting compromised. Right to freedom of expression as well as Right to privacy are the constitutional rights for all citizens and no product or company has the power to breach the same. The customers will have full rights and privileges to sue the company if they feel that their constitutional rights are getting breached.