BlackBerry reaffirms their commitment to customer security and privacy

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As we prepare to close out 2016, BlackBerry has been doing a little housekeeping so to speak and in doing so, they have been busy clearing the air and cleaning up some misconceptions about the company. Everything from what's happening in hardware, to the rumors of BBM moving servers to Indonesia and who 'owns' BBM have been clarified recently.

The latest clarification comes to us by way of BlackBerry's Chief Security Officer, David Kleidermacher, who has now reaffirmed BlackBerry's commitment to customer security and privacy. In the rather lengthy post, Kleidermacher lays out everything that BlackBerry has done in the past year to bolster their security and privacy efforts plus, lays out BlackBerry's practices, policies, and philosophies.

BlackBerry pioneered mobile messaging software. The world's trust in BlackBerry's software solutions and security experience and expertise is unequalled. BlackBerry's commitment to the security and privacy of our customers has and always will be unwavering.

Reports such as the one on encryption and human rights released by Amnesty International in October are admirable in their intentions. Unfortunately, they are hampered by a lack of information and understanding. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify our practices, policies, and philosophies.

BlackBerry's Commitment

BlackBerry has been consistent in its policies towards the human right to privacy and to ensuring this protection is manifested in its technology. We have no backdoors in our products and have always denied access to our servers. We stood firm against agencies such as the Government of Pakistan which last year demanded that we give it unrestricted access to our servers.

We have always been open and transparent about these policies. We regularly discuss our security on our blog, and frequently respond to media inquiries. We have also published the details of our security implementation for BBM Enterprise.

BlackBerry recognizes the threats to users' privacy and is committed to freedom of expression and the use of strong encryption as a tool to help users realize this freedom. We are applying our privacy commitment and expertise to ensure the safety of users throughout the growing Internet of Things, including self-driving connected cars, wireless medical devices, and more.

Unlike many other firms in Silicon Valley, we have never – nor will we ever – monetize or traffic in our customers' personal information.

BlackBerry applauds groups such as Amnesty International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for joining in our steadfast commitment to providing better security tools and driving transparency – and for working to better protect the privacy of users. However, we encourage these organizations to develop multi-stakeholder processes in moving this agenda forward with open, trusted standards. We also encourage them to expand their focus beyond messaging to include social networks, photo sharing, email, and other private information services, where oversight, transparency, confidence, and encryption are sorely lacking.

This is just a small excerpt from the post that highlights their commitment, I do fully suggest you read the full post on the Inside BlackBerry blog to get the full scope of everything that BlackBerry has been doing as of late to add to their more than 80 security certifications, including Government and NATO approvals, FIPS validation, CAPS Security Program certifications, and more!

BlackBerry's Commitment to Security & Privacy: Stronger and Broader Than Ever