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BlackBerry Comments on Canadian Police Eavesdropping Report (blackberry.com)

Last week, a report, citing court documents, claimed that Canadian police have had BlackBerry's global decryption key since 2010. Today BlackBerry CEO John Chen officially commented on the report. In a blog post, Chen reiterated that his company remains committed to doing what is "right for the citizenry," without confirming if the Candian police have the "global encryption key." "I have stated before that we are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good," Chen wrote, adding that the company's cooperation with the Canadian police resulted in shutting down a criminal organization. He adds: Regarding BlackBerry's assistance, I can reaffirm that we stood by our lawful access principles. Furthermore, at no point was BlackBerry's BES server involved. Our BES continues to be impenetrable -- also without the ability for backdoor access -- and is the most secure mobile platform for managing all mobile devices. That's why we are the gold standard in government and enterprise-grade security. For BlackBerry, there is a balance between doing what's right, such as helping to apprehend criminals, and preventing government abuse of invading citizen's privacy, including when we refused to give Pakistan access to our servers. (Update). We have been able to find this balance even as governments have pressured us to change our ethical grounds. Despite these pressures, our position has been unwavering and our actions are proof we commit to these principles. To recall, Chen criticized Apple last year when the iPhone maker refused to unlock a terrorist's iPhone. At the time, he said, Apple was "putting reputation above the greater good."

9 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Canada's Response by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Soorry aboot that.

  2. Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Fuck you if you're a privat customer, all your data are belong to us, and continue to trust us if you're an enterprise customer, we promise we won't fuck you the second we decide it's for the greater good."

  3. Two differnt products by doconnor · · Score: 4, Informative

    BlackBerry has two products. One for businesses and other large organizations called BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) that gives them their own private server with their own secret key and one for everyone else where BlackBerry controls the server and has and apparently shares the key.

    Lets them have their cake and eat it too, because they can both cooperate with the courts to help them catch (non-corporate) criminals with not turning off big corporations and governments who care about security.

  4. Didn't DENY either by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    So this guy is a two-faced asshat...the statement should have read he didn't DENY or 'confirm' not just 'confirm' that the Canadian Police had the keys...all he did was deflect..."o you want to look behind this curtain...quick look over there...look at that silly cat!"...He didn't answer the question asked which should have been a simple 'yes/no' answer...so we get to assume they DID have the keys (not just assume of course but know they did because its in court records saying so)...the guys an asshat pure & simple

  5. "the greater good" "balance" by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All these nice comfy words to lull us into fascism. Obviously they don't believe in privacy, their propaganda piece notwithstanding. Consider them a government agent, and leave it at that. And besides, what do they have to offer anyway?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  6. Be Afraid by BeerMilkshake · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When leaders start using propaganda like "doing what is right for the citizenry" and "greater good" we should get nervous. A CTV article mentioned that government and corporate clients were exempt from this intrusion. That says it all.

  7. Re:what's the big deal? by DiSKiLLeR · · Score: 2

    What's wrong?

    Have a look at:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    How do you feel about it now?

    --
    You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
  8. Re:Mod as insightful [Re:Two differnt products] by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    Fortunately for BB, they didn't say that under oath...

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  9. Equivocate much? by sjbe · · Score: 2

    I have stated before that we are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good,

    That would be a huge step up from days when companies didn't give a shit about their reputations at all. See companies like United Fruit if you need examples of what evil looks like.

    Furthermore I think he's equivocating more than a little bit. "The greater good"? I assume this is code for someone who thinks that we should allow the government to play fast an loose with our civil liberties, never mind the cost or consequences. People who think that there is some middle ground where only the good guys can use back doors in encryption. People who think that cops have a right to be lazy.