New Delhi: In a development that signifies the raging debate over encrypted communications across the world, Canadian telecom company BlackBerry has decided to wind up its operations in Pakistan by the end of the year over certain demands from the country's Telecommunications Authority that would result in a massive invasion of user privacy, the company said on Monday.
The move, which is believed to have set a precedent, comes after BlackBerry denied an order by the government of Pakistan to monitor BlackBerry Enterprise Services (BES), including encrypted emails and BBM messages sent and received in the country.
"It is therefore withdrawing on December 30," Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard said in a blog post on Monday.
The Canadian company maintained it enforces a blanket ban on allowing so-called "backdoor" access to customer information anywhere in the world.
"Pakistan's demand was not a question of public safety; we are more than happy to assist law enforcement agencies in investigations of criminal activity," Beard said. "Rather, Pakistan was essentially demanding unfettered access to all of our BES customers' information."
Ever since revelations of massive surveillance by the US and UK were put forth by Edward Snowden, tech companies have been wrestling government data requests that they believe can go too far. Governments, accustomed to tapping phone lines and opening mail in the not-so-distant past, want access to people's digital data to help stop crime and security threats.
Security has been a major emphasis for BlackBerry - be it in its pitch to government, military or business customers. The Pakistani government's requirement of "wholesale" access to BlackBerry Enterprise Services is what led the company to decide in favour of leaving the company altogether in order to protect its customers' communications being compromised.
BlackBerry is not the only company facing serious questions. If governments come down hard against encryption in the name of national security, tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook will need to decide on the importance of customer privacy in countries a lot closer to home than Pakistan.
