Pres. Obama Gets to Keep his BlackBerry

Pres. Barack Obama has won out over the security concerns of his aides and will keep his BlackBerry.

For a while, it seemed the president would have to give up device, which was his constant companion during the election campaign, and would instead go with the Sectera Edge, a highly-secure smartphone approved by the NSA for military and government use.  The device, developed by General Dynamics, has access to U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet).

But Obama has decided he's not giving up his well-loved BlackBerry 8830.

A Super-Secure BlackBerry 

Earlier this week, Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, announced, "The president has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends in a way that use will be limited and that the security is enhanced to ensure his ability to communicate."

Apparently, one of the main sticking points was that the president agree to only use it to talk to a very select group. During a speech yesterday to Washington insiders, Obama quipped:

I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could email me. It's a very exclusive list.

How exclusive?

Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my email address.

In addition, messages sent to the president can't be forwarded.

There have also been vague references to other security measures, but nothing concrete. "The president has a BlackBerry [but] the security is enhanced."

What's the Big Deal?

As Chief Executive, Obama has to follow the rigid rules for archiving and access set down in the Presidential Records Act.

This law, which was passed in 1978, allows for public access to Presidential records through the Freedom of Information Act after the end of the Administration. The PRA also establishes procedures for Congress, courts, and subsequent Presidential administrations to obtain special access to these records.

"The presumption regarding those emails is that they are all subject to the Presidential Records Act," the White House press secretary said about Obama's mobile messages.

Naturally, there's also a requirement that all information that flows to and from the Oval Office be kept highly secure.

So far, this has kept Presidents from using email when they were in office. After years of exchanging messages with friends and relatives online, former Pres. Bush gave it up when he was in the White House.

Via Seattle Times, Telegraph.co.uk