Blackberry Phone Usage Complies With Thailand's Computer Crime Act

[webfact]

ICT: “Blackberry” use agrees with Computer Crime Act

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology confirms that the use of Blackberry phone services does not go against the Kingdom's computer law.

Information Technology Control Center Director Aree Jiworarak elaborated that all information transmitted through the smart phone Blackberry is kept in log files in servers in Canada. In compliance with the Computer-related Crime Act regulation, the system allows a 90-day trackback of full conversation logs including all users details such as BB pin, time of call, or call destination.

Mr Aree explained that any wrongdoing related to Blackberry use could be traced by authorities through local mobile service operators such as DTAC, AIS, or TrueMove. He noted however, that the regulation does not apply to Blackberry's main international purveyor but assured that the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is contacting the firm to rectify the problem.

-- NNT 2010-08-20

[TheBarbarian]

No need to buy a Blackberry for your companies security anymore. IF Blackberry complies with Thailand's ultra low standards than the servers are accessible in Bangkok by each and everyone who wears even a piece of a uniform of who has bought a badge.

[HC82]

Thank you Buddha.

[avalonmick]

No need to buy a Blackberry for your companies security anymore. IF Blackberry complies with Thailand's ultra low standards than the servers are accessible in Bangkok by each and everyone who wears even a piece of a uniform of who has bought a badge.

I think you've missed the point: what it implies is that to comply with Thai surveillance laws, backtrack logs have to be kept by every phone carrier company and made available as required by the Thai government on demand. Blackberry escaped that because it's logs are held in Canada. Now the Thai government is requiring access to those logs as a condition of allowing Blackberry to operate in Thailand. So every phone in Thailand operating on a Thai network is already compromised.

[sedeflonga]

I don't know that problem it is with the Blackberry. If someone really wants to transfer bad stuff, they won't use it anyways since the PC has much more powerful encryption software which is very hard or impossible to crack. After so much BIG BROTHER advertising, no crackhead would use Blackberry for anything but legals stuff or they would use this, something the BIG BROTHER can't look into too.

Edited August 20, 2010 by sedeflonga

[thaimelody]

how much did blackberry pay for this judgement??

[Sunny Valentine]

Now if Blackberry would comply with a request to open the logs for Thai prosecutors it would mean the end of Blackberry services worldwide for serious business.

Guess it won't happen!

[SamritT]

In compliance with the Computer-related Crime Act regulation, the system allows a 90-day trackback of full conversation logs including all users details such as BB pin, time of call, or call destination.

[willi2006]

Now if Blackberry would comply with a request to open the logs for Thai prosecutors it would mean the end of Blackberry services worldwide for serious business.

Guess it won't happen!

As reported in the press Blackberry has given access to several countries already and not only to logs but to content also.

If I wanted my mobile communication encrypted I wouldn't rely on the provider. I would buy an Android smartphone and install public key encryption which is available for free and not breakable within a realistic amount of time.

[Piengrudee]

Free encryption technology is easy to crack.

[yabaaaa]

I don't know that problem it is with the Blackberry. If someone really wants to transfer bad stuff, they won't use it anyways since the PC has much more powerful encryption software which is very hard or impossible to crack. After so much BIG BROTHER advertising, no crackhead would use Blackberry for anything but legals stuff or they would use this, something the BIG BROTHER can't look into too.

What happens when I bring my "htc desire" phone to Thailand from the UK buy a local sim and connect to the internet using only local wifis??

I need to know as my drug smuggling ,gun running depends on this

[dominique355]

Free encryption technology is easy to crack.

That might be a bit premature.

I recently read about a laptop belonging to a Basque terrorist arrested by the French police. When the police tried to access this laptop, they found that all files are encrypted using a free program called "Truecrypt". Even the best computer specialists in the French police were unable to crack Truecrypt.

I can't verify this information but I very much wish it to be true, because I have been using Truecrypt for quite some time.

[NamF0n]

The march towards a totalitarian, fully policed state continues unabated.

But im sure this corrupt bunch of Chinese communists in govt will blame it on those pesky terrorists.

[Barin]

how much did blackberry pay for this judgement??

Yes, this is a very good point of view!

[Barin]

Now if Blackberry would comply with a request to open the logs for Thai prosecutors it would mean the end of Blackberry services worldwide for serious business.

Guess it won't happen!

As reported in the press Blackberry has given access to several countries already and not only to logs but to content also.

If I wanted my mobile communication encrypted I wouldn't rely on the provider. I would buy an Android smartphone and install public key encryption which is available for free and not breakable within a realistic amount of time.

Oh yes, that's the way to do it. Even not necessary to use Android, the same level of security can be accomplished on any smartphone including Blacberry if you install the voice encryption software.

[Barin]

In compliance with the Computer-related Crime Act regulation, the system allows a 90-day trackback of full conversation logs including all users details such as BB pin, time of call, or call destination.

Very similar laws are adopted in many countries of the world. This is to fight terrorism and international mafia syndicates. There is nothing special about that.

[Barin]

Free encryption technology is easy to crack.

I don't think so. Are you an expert in cryptography?

[rakman]

The march towards a totalitarian, fully policed state continues unabated.

But im sure this corrupt bunch of Chinese communists in govt will blame it on those pesky terrorists.

I find it amusing that governments in open societies use technology to attempt to enslave the people, while in totalitarian societies the people are using technology to free themselves.

[asiawatcher]

Hate to rain on anyone's parade but your phones are traceable as long as there is a signal and all data (even those who think Skype is compression packages and 'safe') is available and easily read. If you use any mobile device or computer - you ARE traceable as is your data. This is nothing to do with Blackberry or iPhones or any network carrier. This is PR el torro poo poo and it is just so they think they win some cue dos over it. What a croc and what a waste of an article.

Edited August 21, 2010 by asiawatcher

[haroldc]

Re: Truecrypt, see

http://g1.globo.com/English/noticia/2010/06/not-even-fbi-can-de-crypt-files-daniel-dantas.html

Earlier this year, a forensic software company announced that they could break Truecrypt encryption - but as it turns out, only if the computer is seized while still powered-on and after the owner entered the password (so it is resident in memory). So actually, the software is only able to locate the password.

If a computer has an encrypted partition -- or even better, an encrypted partition within an encrypted partition -- and the password is sufficiently long, it cannot be decrypted.

You also have to consider the cost-benefit issue. No government is going to spend millions of dollars of supercomputer time to try brute-force decryption unless you are considered a MAJOR threat to national security.