Obama, Keep that Crackberry

To the editors of PopSci, the presidential BlackBerry question is a no-brainer. Hell yes, he should have one.

By Megan Miller Posted 01.09.2009 at 12:54 pm 9 Comments

Obama and his famous BlackBerry AFP

Amidst this week's CES buzz, there’s one political question that keeps popping up on show-goers' lips: “Why should Obama have to give up his Blackberry?”

The president-elect will soon become the most tech-savvy commander-in-chief in American history, and the digital communication landscape has changed radically since Bush first entered the White House in 2000. Today, it’s almost unthinkable that any chief executive, corporate or political, should be required to use less technology than he or she did prior to taking office.

The main argument for asking Obama to relinquish his BlackBerry is that there are security risks associated with email, particularly when it’s delivered to a mobile device. There’s the concern that his email could be hacked and sensitive communications could get into the hands of terrorists. Or that personal emails could be, in the words of George H.W. Bush, “looked at by those out to embarrass.”

But all BlackBerry data delivered through an Enterprise email system is encrypted via the Triple Data Encryption Standard and never decrypted outside corporate (or governmental) firewalls. This means hackers would intercept only a meaningless string of code if they attempted to access the president’s BlackBerry email.

And the Bush concern? About embarrassing personal emails? Well, if the leader of the free world hasn’t yet learned how to digitally censor himself, we’re in big trouble. The argument seems specious in any case, since all written presidential communications—whether scribbled on a piece of paper or thumbed out hastily on a smartphone—are subject to public record.

Finally, there’s the concern that BlackBerry’s GPS technology would give evildoers dangerously accurate information about the exact whereabouts of the president. But this argument seems strange, too. Are the president’s whereabouts really so secret? The man travels with a motorcade. Couldn’t an evildoer get the same information from the coordinates of cellphones belonging to, say, Obama’s top aides, Michelle, and members of his Secret Service detail?

A final decision on the presidential BlackBerry is still forthcoming, but we at PopSci are rooting for a yes. On a recent episode of the "Today" show, Obama was asked whether his security advisers would be likely to let him keep his favorite gadget."I'm still in a scuffle around that," he said. "How do you stay in touch with the flow of everyday life?"

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9 Comments

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REALITYCHKPLS

01/09/09 at 7:54 pm

i do believe that the technology exists for President Obama to use a Blackberry. if i were RIM i would create a one-off Red-phone only for the president. that would do a super-sub-nano-encrytion that is not traceable by any known means. come on people if im thinking so should you.

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ford2go

01/10/09 at 2:26 am

Nothing against Obama, but I don't think that extensive knowledge of the internet and digital comm makes him the "most tech savvy president of all time".

I think that Jimmy Carter was a nuclar engineer.

As for the Blackberry, the security folks should get the top vote. It's their job to assess threats. Should something go wrong, nobody will blame Popsci!

I also suspect that there are a raft of high tech and secure comm options that go wih the office

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palarious

01/10/09 at 3:37 am

ford2go, "I think that Jimmy Carter was a nuclar engineer"

Well, he wasn't a nuclear engineer. He took one non-credit introductory course in nuclear reactor power at Union College starting in March 1953. He often tried to make it sound like he had a lot more experience with it than he did.

But on the topic of tech-savvy-ness, i have to point out that technology changes over time. a president in the 1800s might be comparatively more tech savvy than any of our recent presidents today due to that factor.

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mrxchunkylover

01/10/09 at 2:02 pm

Never having been the president myself I wouldn't know, but I just don't get it. What does mindlessly chit chatting, mindlessly texting, playing games and listening to ring tones have to do with being the president of the United States in the first place?

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ford2go

01/11/09 at 2:49 am

palarious -- thanks for the correction. My source was a co worker who professed to know everthing -- but often did not!

But, my general comment stands -- internet tech does not equate to overall tech.

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timias

01/12/09 at 2:34 pm

Ok, stop and think for a moment. The secret service wants Obama to give up the Blackberry, because it is NOT SECURE. Which means our people can already break the encryption on it, and so can everyone else.Many governments would have no problem dedicating a super computer to eavesdrop on our president. Ever hear of echelon? I don't want my president being snooped on, and he is a definitely worth the cost and effort to snoop on. Blackberry should not invest millions of dollars of their money to create a one-of-a-kind product for Obama, and I don't want to waste my tax money to pay them to.
To answer the second statement of this article.
Yes, the presidents location is THAT secret. Sure he make public appearances, but the secret service transports him to those appearances in a vehicle convoy with decoys. GPS would defeat that security precaution.
Besides it is not like he doesn't have communications available to him. Gimme a break, cellular communications including Blackberries were first "hacked" probable 20 years ago.

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skypatrol250

01/12/09 at 3:47 pm

Obama should give up his blackberry. He's not my favorite president, but I don't want terrorists to get his e-mails. like Timias said we can already break the encryption code on it and if that information got in the hands of terrorists... nothing good will come out of it.

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Simmonsfield

01/13/09 at 12:30 pm

Secure blackberry is available. NSA Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device (SME PED) program.

http://www.l-3com.com/cs-east/ia/smeped/ie_ia_smeped.shtml

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REALITYCHKPLS

01/26/09 at 12:02 pm

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT ......MY comment is the very 1st one on this subject. and sure enough, they have come out with a new Blackberry that does normal phone calls aaaaaaand has an encrypted "red-phone" only for communication between the President and his "team". I saw it on CNN on 01-24-2009.

So there!! (;-p)x

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