Russian Secret Service Okays Blackberry Use
Russian Secret Service Okays Blackberry Use
Dec 2007 Russia's secret services have authorised the use of Blackberry phones on condition that they are informed by operators on who subscribes to the service, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday. MTS and VimpelCom, which owns the operator Beeline, have been given a one-year licence and will start offering the service for their corporate customers, the report quoted executives from the two companies as saying. The Blackberry, produced by Canada-based company Research in Motion, can be used in Russia but the service has been restricted because the Federal Security Service (FSB) cannot gain access to the system. Yekaterina Osadchaya, a spokeswoman for VimpelCom, said that the company would have to inform the FSB on Blackberry users and that the service could not be used by any executives or officials with access to state secrets. "Based on the experience of working with corporate clients, we will also think about the mass market," Mikhail Shamolin, deputy chairman of MTS, was quoted as saying. Under a decree from President Vladimir Putin, the FSB has wide powers to tap into telephone, mobile phone, fax and Internet communications in Russia without prior authorization from a judge.
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