The Presidential Blackberry

If you read the news much you may have seen debates if President-Elect Barack Obama should keep his Blackberry. What is the big deal, you ask? Doesn't everyone carry cell phones? Well no, people don't for lots of reasons. The big reasons confronting the President are Legal and Physical Security. Legally any email, text message or phone call the president makes could be recorded and subpoena by the Courts if such a need arises. Read about Richard Nixon if you have more questions with that point. It is the same reason George W. Bush did not use email during his presidency, and Clinton only sent 2 emails.
The Second reason is the possibility that the President could be tracked by his phone. Most phones have GPS devices that can pinpoint the location of a phone, and they can get a rough location of a person form cell phone tower triangulation.

So why keep a Blackberry if your advisers say not to, and you have been told the risks? From the CNN Post;
"... in an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Obama made clear he's not giving it up without a fight.
"They're going to pry it (Blackberry) out of my hands," the president-elect said.
"You know, this town's full of lawyers. I don't know if you've noticed…and they have a lot opinions. And so I'm still in a scuffle around that, but it–look, it's the hardest thing about being president. How do you stay in touch with the flow of everyday life," he added."

I can't blame him. I feel completely out of touch without my Blackberry, and I don't think my job responsibilities are anywhere near the president's. A fact that I am thankful for.