Geek Fashion Statement is Just One Danger of Obama's BlackBerry
President-elect Barack Obama wears his BlackBerry strapped to his belt, “the sartorial equivalent of wearing socks with sandals,” according to one technology writer.
But the geek fashion statement—as defining as Ronald Reagan’s cowboy hats and jeans—should be the least of the president’s BlackBerry worries, according to the column published in the New York Times.
Obama told CNBC in a recent interview that Washington lawyers have advised him to ditch the device, but he is “still clinging” to his BlackBerry. “They’re going to pry it out of my hands,” he said.
But the New York Times column highlights some technology and privacy concerns. Research in Motion says any data sent on a BlackBerry is encrypted, protecting it from hackers. But one expert told the Times that no device is completely safe. “If the BlackBerry was completely secure, it would be the first time in the history of mankind,” said encryption expert Bruce Schneier.
There is also the danger that someone with access to cell-phone systems could track Obama’s movements through his BlackBerry, the story says.
Then there are the “pesky lawyers,” according to the story, who said judges could find e-mail subject to disclosure under laws such as the Freedom of Information Act and the Presidential Records Act. Lawyer Elizabeth McNamara of Davis Wright Tremaine explained the problem in an interview with the Times.
“In this day of inevitable investigations, any time you have written documentation of what the president is saying on any particular subject, then in that investigation, these records may be requested and could be obtained,” she said.
So will the lawyers win? Not likely, says Obama’s senior White House adviser David Axelrod. The Chicago Tribune blog The Swamp reported on Axelrod’s BlackBerry comments in a speech Monday evening.
“There are all kinds of security issues that people are concerned about, and we’re trying to work those through,” Axelrod said. “I don’t know how it’s going to resolve itself, but when you’re president of the United States, you’ve got a pretty big stick, so I’m betting on him.”
