Black Out for BlackBerrys
August 10, 2010
The Governments of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decided to ban BlackBerry usage in the region for “security concerns.” The Encrypton technology used by Research in Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerrys, makes it difficult for governments to monitor the content of instant messages and web searches. The UAE and Saudi Arabia claim to be concerned by a possible use of encrypted e-mail messages by terrorists. Mustafa Alani of Gulf Research Center in Dubai says: “It is not just politics and terrorism - it is organized crime, drug-smuggling and human-trafficking.” The reason given for such a ban according government officials is that BlackBerry has been operated outside its legal framework.
The State Department spokesman said that the Obama administration was disappointed at the UAE decision. He said: “It’s about what we think is an important element of democracy, human rights, freedom of information and the flow of information in the 21st. century.”
This issue seems to me to be one of security versus freedom.
We know that it is in the very nature of governments to continually try to increase influence and power over the people they govern. The Founding Fathers, as well as the democratic movements in 18th. Century Europe, were fully aware of that fact and hence imposed limits on the power of governments. Government access to emails from visitors and citizens certainly increases the government’s power.
It is also true that today our security or safety is more threatened than ever by terrorism and other criminal entities.
According to numerous surveys, when people are given a choice between security and freedom, they will opt for security.
How much of our liberty are we ready to give up in exchange for our safety or rather what is the correct balance between these two important values in the society we want to live in, assuming that we are living in a democratic country?
This question should be addressed both from the personal or individual level as well as from the community or national level.
On the personal level we should determine the line we will not allow the government to cross in regards to our liberty. In a democratic society we have means to defend ourselves from laws or other government decisions that infringe on our basic liberty. When these decisions are intolerable to us we have the option to protest publicly and to use our power at the voting booth and in some cases consider civil disobedience.
On the National level we have to make sure that the people we elect to govern share our basic beliefs in regards to freedom and hold them accountable once elected or in power.
We should remember Benjamin Franklin’s warning when he said:
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