Govt won't encrypt Blackberry messages

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Pretoria - Communications Minister Roy Padayachee reiterated that government has no intention to regulate or legislate against Blackberry Encryption messenger services (BBM).

This follows the widely reported comments made by his Deputy Minister Obed Bapela, who is alleged to have called for the encryption codes on Blackberry to be made available to government.

Bapela was speaking at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) in East London. 

The department's chief director of communications, Pearl Seopela, in a statement said: "The Minister of Communications wishes to issue the following clarifying statement on this matter.

"The Minister of Communications aligns [himself] with the statement issued by the Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe, the Coordinator of the Justice Cluster in government, that government has no intention to regulate or legislate against Blackberry Encryption messenger services (BBM)."

Government is still working on a policy statement on cyber matters, which will review current regulatory and legislative instruments with respect to cyberspace matters.

Seopela said the minister, however, welcomed the willingness of Research in Motion (RIM) to work closely with government to prevent the abuse of the encrypted messenger services by criminals for unlawful purposes. 

"Government has no intention to intercede or interfere with the privacy of communications between private citizens for lawful purposes," said Seopela. - BuaNews