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Government demands access to RIM database
Indonesia is following in the recent wake of other countries by demanding access to the highly secured encrypted messaging service of Canadian firm Research In Motion Ltd
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ndonesia is following in the recent wake of other countries by demanding access to the highly secured encrypted messaging service of Canadian firm Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) by urging the company to set up a data center here.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Thursday that a data center was urgently needed by law enforcement officers to track communication records of suspected criminals sent through RIM’s popular BlackBerry handheld devices.
He said all telecommunication operators, including international ones, and foreign-based banks were required by the law on information and electronic transactions to establish such a center.
“The center would not only enable the government to monitor [telecommunication operators] transactions to verify their tax and other non-tax revenue, but would also allow law enforcement officers to trace data related with crimes,” he said at the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting.
“Law enforcement officers will be able to look into a suspect’s past communication recordings if there was a data center here,” he said, adding that a data center for foreign banks was needed to help trace embezzled funds deposited overseas.
The ministry defines a data center as a pool of computer servers containing databases and applications and serving a network.
Unlike rivals Nokia, Samsung and Apple’s iPhone, RIM controls its own networks, which handle encrypted messages through centers in Canada and the UK.
This has made the BlackBerry and its messenger application highly popular as a secure way to communicate, but has also worried governments, who are not able to tap into the network.
Police allege corrupt government officials and legislators regularly use the BlackBerry’s messenger application for criminal purposes as law enforcement officers have no access and technology to tap their communications.
Tifatul said he had discussed the requirement for the center with RIM executives last year and would take stiff measures should the company refuse to comply.
“The first stage is to appeal to them to set up the center here.
We have no plans to ban them anytime soon.”
Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewa Broto said RIM was not known merely as a handheld manufacturer, but also a network service provider, enabling the government to classify the company as a telecommunication operator, based on existing regulations.
He added that Indonesia was RIM’s largest market in Southeast Asia, with at least one million BlackBerry handheld devices registered with telecommunication providers having been sold here.
He said Indonesia’s request was not similar to recent demands by Kuwait, India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, who requested access to BlackBerry’s encrypted messages.
“What we want is access into the past messages of a suspected criminal,” Gatot said.
