A media watchdog voiced concern Saturday at the cooperation between British authorities and the Canadian maker of BlackBerry smartphones to identify rioters in London and other cities.
“What consequences will this cooperation have on respect for the privacy of BlackBerry users?” the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. If information provided by Blackberry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) leads to arrests, “questions will be raised about the validity of the evidence and the legality of the way it was acquired,” the lobby group continued.
Reporters Without Borders stressed that it was not minimizing the gravity of the situation in Britain and the urgent need to restore order, but added that the provision of personal data to the police sets a “disturbing precedent” coming from a western nation which could have consequences as regards “setting an example for others kinds of govt.”
The rioters and looters were able to organise rapidly through text messages which, using the Blackberry system, are encrypted unlike such online social network sites as Twitter.
