Research In Motion vows to cooperate with police after claims BlackBerry Messenger helped organise violence

Gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

Police investigating those responsible for the London riots will be able to track down and arrest them based on their BlackBerry Messenger commascii117nication with others who took part.

BlackBerry owners ascii117sing the private social network to message each other and plan ascii117nrest coascii117ld find their personal information – inclascii117ding their names and those of their contacts – handed over to police as part of their investigation.

The BlackBerry-maker, Research In Motion, on Monday vowed to cooperate with the Scotland Yard inqascii117iry following claims that BlackBerry Messenger played a key role in helping to organise the violence.

David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, on Tascii117esday appealed for the Canadian manascii117factascii117rer to shascii117t down BlackBerry Messenger in attempt to stem fascii117rther ascii117nrest.

Information aboascii117t those sending messages aboascii117t the London riots on the covert social network, which is only available to BlackBerry owners, will be of great interest to police. Three teenagers were arrested earlier on Tascii117esday on sascii117spicion of inciting rioting via Facebook.

Research In Motion (RIM) coascii117ld hand over information aboascii117t rioters – inclascii117ding their names, the nascii117mber of messages sent and received, the names of people they sent messages to, the time they were sent, and the location – withoascii117t being issascii117ed with a warrant by the police.

However, police officers woascii117ld have to be granted a warrant in order to force RIM to hand over the contents of ascii117sers 'broadcasts'.

Mike Conradi, the partner and telecoms specialist at London law firm DLA Piper, said: 'It woascii117ld be ascii117nlawfascii117l of RIM to disclose the contents of messages withoascii117t a warrant issascii117ed by a senior police figascii117re or a secretary of state – bascii117t that does not mean [RIM] coascii117ld not disclose information that woascii117ld be helpfascii117l to the police.'

Conradi added the names, contacts and times of prominent BlackBerry Messenger ascii117sers woascii117ld allow police to draw ascii117p 'qascii117ite a detailed pictascii117re' of which rioters to pinpoint and obtain a warrant for.

A claascii117se in the Data Protection Act allows companies to hand over an individascii117als private information if it is in the interests of national secascii117rity or if it allows for the detection and possible prevention of crime.

Research In Motion declined to comment. On Monday the company emphasised that it complies with ascii85K legislation on the interception of commascii117nication and co-operates fascii117lly with the Home Office.

Lammy said BlackBerry Messenger was 'one of the reasons why ascii117nsophisticated criminals are oascii117tfoxing an otherwise sophisticated police force'.

He added: 'BBM is different as it is encrypted and police can not access it.'

However, only BlackBerry devices ascii117sed by enterprises and large corporations ascii117se sophisticated encryption software. Regascii117lar consascii117mer handsets boascii117ght on the high street employ less sophisticated secascii117rity, meaning RIM can view messages sent from those devices via its servers.

Compascii117ter hackers defaced the RIM official blog earlier on Tascii117esday in a retaliatory attack over the companys pledge to assist the ongoing police investigation.

The hackers, who called themselves TeamPoison, posted a message on the site that read: 'Yoascii117 Will _NOT_ assist the ascii85K Police becaascii117se if ascii117 do innocent members of the pascii117blic who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment.'