Chasing away BlackBerry

The company announced exit from Pakistan after refusing to comply with demand to allow access to private data

BlackBerry recently announced that it will have to exit Pakistan after refusing to comply with the government’s demands to allow access to customers’ private data. While the government has put forward often-cited national security concerns, the phone-maker said that the demand for “unfettered access” to all encrypted traffic that flows through its servers was a step too far. It acknowledged the need to cooperate in lawful requests following criminal activity, but “wholesale access to its servers” had never been permitted.

The company’s exit will come as Pakistan continues its battle against terrorism, sharpening its tools to root out the menace. The government already has a system in place where mobile phone operators are directed to suspend operations on certain days that are deemed sensitive. There is no denying that there are genuine security concerns and measures need to be taken to corner terrorists. However, that fine line between ensuring security and invading the privacy of law-abiding citizens and businesses has become hazy. In a country where the proposed cybercrime bill indicates the government’s intent to limit free speech and criminalise literally any act it deems immoral, a demand for “wholesale access” to phone data is another eye-opener. These developments are a stark contrast to what Islamabad says it wants — foreign investment and presence of global players. Pakistan has a history of tightening the noose to the point of strangulating businesses, and eventually squeezing them out of the country. At the same time, we also have instances where it watched silently as businesses acted as if they owned the government. Arguments over whether BlackBerry is a major player and whether it played hard ball with a country it didn’t care about are irrelevant. What demands attention is the government’s intent. When you have governments that ban YouTube, and propose what can only be termed a sorry excuse of a cybercrime bill, citizens and global businesses will be wary of the authorities’ intentions.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd,  2015.

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