RIM to co-operate with police investigating riots
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As BlackBerry private instant messaging service is reported to have played role in co-ordinating riots, RIM pledges to co-operate with police
Research in Motion has promised to work with authorities following reports that rioters across the UK have been coordinating their actions through its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) instant messaging network.
“We co-operate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials," RIM's UK sales director Patrick Spence said in a statement. "Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces."
The Urban Mashup blog was among the first to identify the trend of rioters using BBM to communicate and organise themselves. A post written by the director of digital consultancy TransformUK, Jonathan Akwue, noted that unlike public social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, the private instant messaging service cannot be tracked without the co-operation of the provider.
RIPA, which regulates the government's ability to monitor the public's communications, would oblige RIM hand communications data and user account details over to police if they are needed in a criminal investigation. This could well be used to identify looters.
RIM's co-operation with law enforcement authorities around the world has been a controversial and complicated matter in recent years.
BlackBerry's encryption, and the fact that RIM does not store copies of messages sent using the devices, are two of the security measures that help make BlackBerrys popular among businesses. But they have also landed the company in trouble with governments that supposedly wish to monitor terrorist groups using the devices to co-ordinate their activities.
The company has endured protracted disputes with the governments of both India and Saudi Arabia over the interception of BlackBerry messages. It has since reached agreements with these governments, reportedly to intercept BBM messages and hosted emails but preventing them from accessing any of its customers' BlackBerry Enterprise Server backend systems.
