Indian government considers ban on Blackberry phone

The Indian government will decide today whether to ban some BlackBerry mobile phone services in a row over security.

The phone's maker Research In Motion has shown no sign of agreeing to demands for access to its encrypted corporate email, saying it is technically impossible for it to do so.

The company is facing international concern over its method of data encryption, which is loved by corporate customers eager to guard secrets but troublesome for some governments in the Middle East and Asia, which worry it could be used by militants to avoid detection.

The controversy, which reaches across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Lebanon and India, sent RIM's stock price to a 16-month low on Friday.

Striking the right balance between national security and corporate privacy is especially important to Indian outsourcing companies eager to protect client data.

"India is termed an outsourcing hub for the US and Europe so data security is a primary issue. If there is any data leakage, we lose business," said Chetan Samant, 35, a manager at a software association.

He believes BlackBerry usage is so widespread in India now that it would be politically difficult for the government to enact a ban.

He, for one, would be sad to part with his BlackBerry.

"Once you get used to it, it's an addiction," he said.

Indian officials say that while they are not eager to ban the BlackBerry, they will not compromise on national security.

Security concerns flared after the terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008, which was coordinated using mobile phones, satellite phones and voice over internet phone calls.

Fear that the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October could be a target for attacks have added to pressure on the Home Ministry, which is responsible for national security, to step up surveillance.

India also faces worsening violence in the disputed region of Kashmir and a rising Maoist insurgency in a mineral-rich swath of the East, which the government is eager to control.

RIM last week sought to broaden the debate over security, saying that singling it out for scrutiny was "ineffective and counterproductive."

"Anyone perpetrating the misuse of the technology would continue to have easy access to other wireless and wireline services that utilise strong encryption and are readily available in the market today," it said.

But its proposal to lead an industry-wide forum on security issues received a weak response from Indian telecom groups.

Indian officials have also raised concerns about Skype and Google, although both companies say they have yet to receive formal notice of an inquiry.

Some analysts say BlackBerry's super-encrypted corporate emails are unlikely to be used by militants, who prefer more anonymous technologies, like free email providers.

Others, however, caution that it would be easy for a militant group to set up a front corporation, which could then establish its own uncrackable BlackBerry corporate email, considered by many to be the gold standard for data security.