RIM caves, meaning criminals in India should avoid plotting via BlackBerry Messenger

Research in Motion’s years-long spat with the Indian government is finally winding down—and all the company had to do was give government agencies access to users’ private messages. Newsmagazine India Today reports that the government will soon be able to access messages sent through the formerly secure BlackBerry Messenger service (as well as tap phone calls, emails and data communications) when it suspects criminal behaviour. That could set an uncomfortable precedent; if RIM allows Indian law enforcement access to secure messages, a privacy law expert told the Toronto Star, it would be difficult not to do the same for other countries like Pakistan and China—or even Canada. A tech analyst, meanwhile, speculates that the FBI and the National Security Agency may well have been reading Americans’ messages since the signing of the Patriot Act shortly after 9/11. Er, is that supposed to make us feel better? Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »