UAE To Block Some BlackBerry Features over Security Issues

August 2, 2010 By Geoff Duncan

The United Arab Emirates plans to block some BlackBerry features in October...and Saudi Arabia and India may follow suit.

Following a ruling that offshore data storage and messaging services used by BlackBerry devices were illegal, the United Arab Emirates has begun outlining plans to block BlackBerry email, messaging, and Web browsing services in the country starting in October…and the ban will apply to visitors as well as citizens of the UAE. The ban would mean that BlackBerry-using travelers to Dubai—on of the Middle East’s busiest travel hubs—would lose services on arriving in the country.

The government cites BlackBerry services offshore data storage as a security threat, since the government cannot monitor the encrypted communications or physically seize servers on which data and messages are stores.

The plans have immediately raised questions about whether the UAE’s intentions have to do with security, or whether they are also part of a broader plan to control online content and restrict access to information the government believes to be morally or politically unacceptable. The Emerati government maintains the devices and services could be used by terrorists; others note that the same technology is also lawfully used by everyone from businesspeople and everyday citizens to human rights activists.

The United Arab Emirates is not the only country taking on BlackBerry users: within hours of the Emerati announcement, a telecommunications official in Saudi Arabia indicated the kingdom would do the same, although no official statement has yet been made. Other nations—including Bahrain and India—have expressed similar concerns about BlackBerry services.

The UAE announcement follows a debacle last year in which one of the UAE’s two mobile operators attempted to require BlackBerry users to install software described as a mandatory update; testing revealed it was spy software.

Showing 6 comments

Garret at 5:00pm 2nd August 2010 This goes back to a recent example in Iran. People there were posting pics and updates to Facebook and Twitter throughout the recent riots etc. There was nothing the government could do to stop them either. These Arab nations are trying to control the people that live there, and shut out the outside world. This is 2010, and it isn't going to happen.
1. Trevor at 12:41pm 2nd August 2010 Sure it will.. unfortunately they are in control. they actually kill people and families who oppose their wishes. America is soooo spoiled when it comes to reality that probably 75% of all americans could not SURVIVE outside of the U.S. for prolonged periods(10+ years). Come on, you don't think mafia style control is a movie thing only...right? I'd love for everyone 2 be free but that is not how it works. In some parts of russia, if a woman is out late at night alone she probably will not return home but to be a part of the human trafficing market. I don't see those videos all over facebook or twitter or the russian PM saying anything about it. The govt will stop them. Look at China...The home to the majority of worldwide hackers...yet there is censorship there. You can destroy a family's retirement and future across the world but you can't talk to your friends on a social site. The only way to stop the silencing is to stop socialism, yet america is becoming socialist.. looks like a lose lose for us.
2. John D at 1:27pm 3rd August 2010 There is a reason. And it has got nothing to do privacy. You do not have that even in the US. ALL your calls are snooped by the FBI or CIA. It’s just a simple procedure to get access to your phones. In India the Mumbai attacks were co-ordinated by people in Pakistan and some planners in the UAE (from where the funding was made). The UAE is an open country. You can come and go. Do business and what not .. no taxes. It’s a free zone. So it seems to be an ideal place for these kinds of guys to have a base out here where there is access to technology and communication. So it’s a co-ordinated plan. The messages made on blackberry messenger is encrypted communication. Messages was found on the handsets with the Guys in the Mumbai attacks. So Blackberry must comply with the agencies. There is no other way.
  1. rahmahha at 12:18pm 14th August 2010 John D, wise man...
    Trevor at 12:22pm 30th August 2010 Wouldn't UAE et al have access to users messages not in their "zone of influence" i.e. wouldn't UAE be able to access phone calls from non UAE calls to non UAE recipients? What determines their accessability? or should we give them the access to our Secret Service's cell phone #'s. How would RIM prevent misuse?
3. Lawrence at 12:39pm 1st October 2010 Garret, 2010 or 2050, it -IS- going to happen. I worked in Saudi, Bahrein and UAE for a few years, and I can guarantee you they can (and will) do whatever they want. There are no sissy laws to protect what you would call your "rights", there. They make laws and enforce them in the way they see fit, period.