The White House confirmed Jan. 22 that President Barack Obama will use a smartphone
while in office, although it may not be his beloved BlackBerry e-mail device.
The announcement represents a victory for Obama over the myriad security
officials assigned to the president who wanted to strip him of his smartphone.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, "The president
has a BlackBerry, through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with
senior staff and a small group of personal friends in a way that use will be
limited and the security is enhanced to ensure his ability to communicate, but
to do so effectively."
Gibbs added that Obama's ability to e-mail would be restricted to "a
limited group of senior staffers and personal friends. It's a pretty small
group of people."
Whether Obama will in the future use an actual BlackBerry or some sort of
souped-up hybrid remains in doubt. The Atlantic broke the news Jan. 21 that
Obama will be outfitted with either a non-GPS
BlackBerry doused in a super-encryption package or possibly a Sectera Edge from
General Dynamics, which contains enough encryption to permit "top
secret" voice communications.
Research In Motion's BlackBerrys—the smartphones of choice in the federal
government—do not contain encryption allowing for calls or e-mail above
"secret" status. The Sectera Edge was originally developed for the
National Security Agency, comes with Secure Communications Interoperability
Protocol and the High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor Interoperability
specification, and provides secure connections to classified government
networks.
The Sectera Edge costs $3,350 and pundits immediately dubbed it the
"BarackBerry."
In any event, Obama's e-mail will be subject to the Presidential Records
Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve presidential records.
Gibbs said the law allows some exemptions for "strictly personal
communications." Obama's communications will be kept from the public
during his presidency.
Obama has said since he won the election that he wants
to keep his BlackBerry while serving in office. "I'm still clinging to my
BlackBerry. They're going to pry it out of my hands," Obama said in a January
broadcast on CNBC.
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