After rejecting demands from the Pakistan government to have access to the company’s encrypted services, Blackberry has completely shut down in Pakistan. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has been in talks to get into Blackberry’s backdoor since the beginning of the year, to the point where local carriers were ordered to shut down Blackberry Enterprise Service by November.
Pakistan Telecommunications Authorities Want Access to Emails and BBMs
On being forced out, Blackberry has simply stated that giving in to the Pakistani government’s demands would mean compromising user privacy, and that is just a sacrifice that they are not willing to make. The Pakistan government is looking to be granted all access to encrypted traffic going through Blackberry’s Enterprise Service, including emails and BBM messages. Blackberry, who has a significant market in Pakistan, will simply not comply.
The Pakistan Government Will Not Revise their Demands
It doesn’t look like the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority is backing down, either, given the fact that encryption is under such a watchful eye after Edward Snowden’s WikiLeaks scandal, and even more after the Paris attacks of November 13. This is a natural response, albeit a forceful one. It’s safe to say that Blackberry is choosing to protect their customers as opposed to fueling fire for the government to get into business that is private.
Pakistan is Not Alone in Wanting to Redefine Encryption
Pakistan is also not alone in the effort to cut down encryption, as the US recently shut down laws that make companies able to include backdoors in their software, and the UK is making some changes to their surveillance legislation that may encourage or discourage the use of encrypted services. The turmoil will hopefully soon settle, as the topic of encryption is better defined by companies, better used and better monitored by the people.
