Blackberry

44 has apparently arrived at a compromise that will allow him to use his beloved Blackberry device to communicate with some on his staff. Some of the technical and security issues are discussed at layperson level here. It is easy to think of some nightmare scenarios arising from a hostile force successfully hacking into his PDA. Whenever someone builds what appears to be an unbreakable code, someone else comes along and breaks it.

This has implications not only for the security of national intelligence, but also for the personal safety of the President. Just imagine the consequences if his wireless communication provided a physical target for terrorists with a SAM.

The other point to consider is the ultimate fate of the communications. By law public access to presidential communications, including e-mails, is guaranteed after a statuatory waiting period. 44 is aware of this, since he repealed a presidential order issued by 43 as an attempt to protect communications involving controversial firings in the Justice Department. This has nothing to do with the future text messaging habits of the First Daughters, that being a matter under control of the First Lady.

Update: here's another article on the same subject.