President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the Secret Service does not allow him to use Apple’s iPhone for security reasons, explaining why he still carries around a BlackBerry from 2007.
[quote_box_center]I’m not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone,” Obama told a group of young people at the White House for an event promoting his health care law.[/quote_box_center]He added that his daughters Sasha and Malia spend a lot of time on their iPhones.
BlackBerry is known to have solid security and was the go-to device for the U.S. government before the rise of the iPhone, but with the proliferation of Apple’s handset and those running Google’s Android operating system, things have changed. Earlier this year, Apple’s last-generation iOS 6 operating system was granted FIPS [Federal Information Processing Standard] 140-2 level 1 validation, allowing certain government agencies to adopt specialized devices running the software.
While it is unlikely that President Obama will be able to use an iPhone during his remaining tenure, he has been seen carrying and using other Apple devices, including a third-generation iPad and a 15-inch MacBook Pro.
He has been seen scrolling down his messages in his limousine as he travels around.
The president often privately talks of how frustrated he is about the White House “bubble” which makes it very difficult to communicate with normal people or to get information from the outside world that is not filtered for him by aides or the press. Aides say his Blackberry is a way to escape that confinement.
The White House says the president’s personal email address was strictly limited to a small list of senior officials and personal friends, but will not detail the encryption devices that are used to secure his communications.
Source: Apple Insider
