London, September 02: The chief of the UN’s telecommunications agency is urging BlackBerry’s manufacturer to allow foreign law enforcement agencies access to its customer data.
The International Telecommunication Union agency’s Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure says governments fighting terrorism have the right to demand access to users’ information from BlackBerry’s maker Research in Motion Ltd.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Toure says that “those are genuine requests” and that “there is a need for cooperation between governments and the private sector on security issues”.
The standoff between RIM and foreign governments over access to customers’ data has sunk the company’s share price. RIM had no immediate comment Thursday.
Meanwhile, India has widened its security crackdown, asking all companies that provide encrypted communications — not just BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion — to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users’ data.
–Agencies