Why does Obama have to give up his Blackberry?

[malaise]

I don't get it.

[LynneSin]

1. Because it's a security risk

If that thing is stolen or hacked into then there could be a problem.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

2. Only if he's doing State business on it, which I kind of hope he wouldn't be.

God knows all we need is for Obama to try to ask a friend how the White Sox game ended and instead accidentally send him the nuclear codes. (We really need a smilie for hyperbole).

[Warren Stupidity]

13. Wrong.

Assuming that the blackberry is in fact a security risk (and my guess is that the gummint knows it is a security risk as it routinely browses other people's blackberries when it sees fit to do so) 'things Obama might type on his blackberry' while not directly state secrets could in fact be very interesting to those folks with the capability to take a peek.

It is simply a sensible precaution in a dangerous world, although 90% of the danger in this world is us.

[marshall]

27. All hell broke loose when Britney lost hers

Can you imagine what would happen if Obama's was in the hands of the National Enquirer? Or worse yet, the Washington Post?

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Federal "sunshine" laws, and national security

Basically, anything and everything that has to do with government business must be a matter of record (not necessarily public record, though.) Personal devices like a Blackberry allow official channels to be sidestepped. Keep in mind the brouhaha over Bush deleting official inter-office emails, and Palin using Hotmail for state business. After all that, Obama is making a wise decision to avoid the appearance of such impropriety.

And, as others have pointed out, loss of a device could severely compromise national security if it were found and hacked.

[Qanisqineq]

4. security and Presidential Records Act

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/us/politics/16blackbe...

"But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.

For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive. Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office, making him the first American president to do so."

[Solly Mack]

5. Because of the Presidential Records Act

A president's correspondence are official record...meaning they can be subpoenaed and can be up for public review..so anything on his Blackberry is fair game...unless he shuts it off and keeps it off while in office.

Also, the possibility of a breach, etc..

[Blarch]

14. Ummm.

The PRA is in the fucking garbage. The laws don't apply any longer. If the PRA was law, then there should be people in jail as we speak.

[Solly Mack]

15. You make an excellent point....alas

That Bush is allowed to get away with it does not mean Obama will be able to

Suddenly, certain laws and rules will matter

[babylonsister]

6. Because all of his records have to be accounted for, UNLESS

he takes a page out of idiot son's book. Then all bets are off.

[DS1]

7. He might as well have it destroyed

It'll be obsolete by the time he gets it back

[Orsino]

8. While I'm happy that he's technically competent and computer literate...

...there are people who can handle that stuff for him, and he might as well fend off subpoena after subpoena by getting rid of the damned thing before he takes office.

[Vickers]

9. The Presidential Records Act is still active?

Who knew...

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Maybe because someone can GPS him?

[liberalpress]

11. I Think that's the real reason

A secure undisclosed location ain't worth shite if a nut can find your GPS location.

[Fovea]

12. it is an electronic bulls-eye.

[TexasProgresive]

16. I don't have the details but the French gov

banned these devices to be used by their agents, diplomats and others in the government. part of it is that the communications even in Europe cross the Atlantic to the US and like most countries France isn't interested in sharing their stuff with other countries even allies.

I'm sure that blackberries are an extreme security risk and can be cracked by any 1st world government's intel people.

[Xenotime]

17. Paranoia. Hopefully he will get to keep some of his freedom.

[leftofthedial]

18. It was either that or the cigarettes.

He even threw in the Rick Warren invite, but they still made him ditch the Blackberry.

[whistler162]

19. Remember the stink that Gov. Palin made using

alternative email addresses to conduct business?

Multiply that by every memmber of the Republican party screaming their heads off about President Obama using a Blackberry and the "suspicion" that he "might" be conducting government business on the Blackberry!

[Posteritatis]

20. Every country and half the reporters on the planet would be trying to tap into the thing (nt)

[nolabels]

21. Because of the job promotion he has to move up to a man sized keyboard

[ContinentalOp]

22. He can finally upgrade to an iphone now?

[deaniac21]

26. Upgrade? LOL

[jmowreader]

23. Because he's not a fucking Republican

Republicans conduct public business on nongovernment-owned systems. Democrats avoid even the appearance of it.

[malaise]

24. So why can't he call his own wife or children

from a private phone? Why is that government business?

[jmowreader]

28. The problem is the KIND of phone it is

Everyone who knows what a Blackberry is, knows it's specifically made to do e-mail. You know as well as I that every damn time President Obama removes a Blackberry from his pocket, fifteen hard-right talking heads will start screaming "He's conducting government business on nonofficial equipment!!!"

Yes, hypocrisy knows no bounds.

I want there to be no question whatsoever that the Obama Administration plays by the letter of the law. President Obama can get a phone that doesn't do e-mail--yes, they still make them--to call his wife and kids.

[Crabby Appleton]

25. Potentially a serious security risk, mic can be turned on remotely

"An insidious piece of software classified by most security vendors as a trojan has been updated to include the bugging of a mobile user's e-mail, the tracking of a user's location and the ability to activate the phone's microphone.

While its classification as a trojan is the subject of some debate, updates to the FlexiSPY application are likely to cause serious concern to mobile users.

The software, once physically loaded onto any Symbian, Windows Mobile or BlackBerry-based device, enables a remote user to monitor and control nearly all aspects of a mobile device."

more