Barack Obama is surely one of the few remaining high-profile loyal customers of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) as he is not allowed to use iPhone for security reasons. Obama said in a meeting with a group of youths that though he uses Apple’s iPad, he is not allowed an iPhone for “security reasons,” says a report the Wall Street Journal.
Obama also said that his daughters Sasha and Malia spend a lot of time on their iPhones. In 2012, in an interview given to Vanity Fair, Obama told that he reads news headlines and surfs the internet on his iPad, but he can’t have an iPhone.
Obama a BlackBerry fan
President Obama was adamant on keeping his BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) when he came to the White House in 2009. He said that his personal email ID is known only to 10 people. Prior to Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton did not use email during their tenure in White House.
BlackBerry is the pioneer of the ‘on the go mail’ concept, but could not capitalize on it like rivals Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Android-based smartphones made more user friendly devices. The struggling smartphone maker is now searching for new clients among large business and government clients.
President Obama has at many times joked about the privileges and pitfalls of being a president. In 2011, he discussed high gas price and grieved over the fact that the Secret Service does not allow him to get out and drive anymore. Vice President Joe Biden also said that the Secret Service does not allow him to drive his 1967 Corvette.
Why not iPhone?
According to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Apple may be one of many tech companies that provided data to the NSA about their customers. Apple has denied any such allegations, but this might be the security reason which Obama was referring to.
There was no word from the spokesperson of the Secret Service as to why Obama can’t have an iPhone. However, President Obama is well aware of the fact that smartphones could raise some serious challenges for world leaders.
Earlier, it was revealed that the United States used to track German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, which caused political turmoil worldwide. Obama cleared the air by saying that the U.S. has and would never monitor her phone, but the White House waffled when asked whether the National Security Agency (NSA) used to monitor Merkel’s phone in the past. Ms. Merkel used to use a Nokia, but switched to a BlackBerry.
