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Solving Obama's BlackBerry Dilemma

Posted by kdawson on from the first-personal-communicator dept.

CurtMonash writes "Much is being made of the deliberations as to whether President Obama will be able to keep using his beloved "BarackBerry." As the NYTimes details, there are two major sets of objections: infosecurity and legal/records retention. Deven Coldeway of CrunchGear does a good job of showing that the technological infosecurity problems can be solved. And as I've noted elsewhere, the 'Omigod, he left his Blackberry behind at dinner' issue is absurd. Presidents are surrounded by attendants, Secret Service and otherwise. Somebody just has to be given the job of keeping track of the president's personal communication device. As for the legal question of whether the president can afford to put things in writing that will likely be exposed by courts and archivists later — the answer to that surely depends on the subject matter or recipient. Email to his Chicago friends — why not? Anything he'd write to them would be necessarily non-secret anyway. Email to the Secretary of Defense? That might be a different matter."

14 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. research in motion by jfrdtrtyvyui · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its interesting to think of how much money Research in Motion would spend developing a unit specifically for him, that met all of the security criteria, just so he would be seen with it. I imagine some type of self destruct feature would be necessary, in addition to insane encryption.

    1. Re:research in motion by retech · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As if they'd never recoup that in the copious amount of free adverts they've already received?

    2. Re:research in motion by topham · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The one major issue with thi... RIM is a foreign company.

    3. Re:research in motion by fishbowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If he were not (wisely) choosing his fights, he could simply order it. He is not subordinate to the advisers who don't want him using a Blackberry. In fact, he could replace them if he wanted -- he could even eliminate their positions. The President has a great deal of authority, very little of it subject to the opinion of anyone else.

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    4. Re:research in motion by digitalunity · · Score: 3, Insightful

      IMO, the whole thing is bullshit.

      I think everything the president does should be recorded in a place where judicial or legislative review can occur. Obviously only certain people should have access, such as federal judges, the SCOTUS and a senate committee or two. And yes, I mean even for national secret type stuff. It is the responsibility of the executive branch to fulfill obligations set forth by laws enacted by the legislative branch and in accordance with decisions by the judicial branch. If there is no transparency, there is tyranny.

      Just think how interesting it would be to read emails between Bush/Cheney & the Justice Dept. regarding interrogation techniques, or the prelude to invading Iraq, or the events surrounding 9/11(still a gazillion unanswered questions). If a bipartisan senate committee had access to that information, I bet Bush would have been impeached quickly.

      --
      You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
  2. Re:Who Cares? by JWSmythe · · Score: 5, Insightful

        Aw come on, he's the first US President that could use one. :)

       

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  3. the answer is obvious. by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The solution is simple -- the government already has PDAs that tie into their networks and are secure. He will use that for classified information, as required by law anyway. His blackberry will be used for non-classified information. Separation between the two is also required by law. Now, why are we fangirling over Obama like this? This wasn't news when Bush was in office and he used a cell phone and a PDA too. Now I wait for my -1, didn't fangirl score.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:the answer is obvious. by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This wasn't news when Bush was in office and he used a cell phone and a PDA too

      Because a blackberry is so much harder to use than a PDA and cell phone ;) Or maybe it's an issue of race.

      Sarcasm aside, it is a bit annoying that suddenly, the choice of dog and the use of a communication device is "big news." It's not big news, Presidents have had communication devices for years and dogs for much longer.

      I can see it now. Headline news back in the day was undoubtedly "President Washington to Choose Arabian or Quarterhorse?" Of course, news was a lot slower, so the horse would have likely already died by the time anyone heard about the decision.

    2. Re:the answer is obvious. by MozeeToby · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This isn't a question of Classified vs Unclassified information. This is a question of covering the Commander in Chief's ass if things became public knowledge that were never meant to be.

      Notice how there's no email trail linking President Bush to the torture of terror suspects or the tapping of our phone lines. If the president sends an email, it legally must be saved. If he has a private meeting with his advisors, all that needs to be recorded is who spoke to whom and when.

      A better solution to this problems is: 'Hey, maybe the president shouldn't order or condone illegal or unethical behavior regardless of whether or not there is a record of his statements.'

    3. Re:the answer is obvious. by Shakrai · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sarcasm aside, it is a bit annoying that suddenly, the choice of dog and the use of a communication device is "big news."

      It's only big news if you watch CNN, MSNBC or Fox. The network news broadcasts have barely mentioned it and the Newshour hasn't even touched on it at all. I'm sorry to say that I get most of my news from Jim Lehrer and I'm completely out of the loop on what dog the Obama family is considering getting. I should write PBS and tell them they need to do a better job of covering this important story.

      Just remember the cable news people are the same ones that can devote hours of coverage (and helicopters!) to Britney Spears arraignment while our country is bogged down in two wars, one of which they apparently forgot existed until recently. I just can't take them seriously any longer.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  4. Re:This is ridiculous. by Scrameustache · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am sure the previous presidents of the united states used cellphones and laptops. This is no different by the combination of the two. What exactly are those security experts hired for anyway?

    They are hired to know gems like this: All data transferred via BlackBerry devices is encrypted and travels through RIM â(TM)s central server in Canada .

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    You can't take the sky from me...

  5. Re:If Bush was intelligent... by Kleen13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can't figure why... I mean, it's not like he has anything to hide, right?

    --
    That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
  6. Re:Obamatard portmanteaus by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm sorry, how is "President Elect" imaginary? It's a widely-used term, and everybody knows what it means. And BTW, it's been around for about three centuries, according to the OED.

    But even if it had been invented last year, it wouldn't be "imaginary", not if people are actually using it.

  7. Re:Fangirls of the World Unite! by fm6 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When you're a real girl, and not just a girl in training, you'll have reason to complain!