BlackBerry will not operate in Pakistan after Nov 30, Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard confirmed in a statement posted to the smartphone makers' website.
"Pakistan’s demand for open access to monitor a significant swath of our customers’ communications within its borders left us no choice but to exit the country entirely," Beard said.
The COO said the company made the move because "remaining in Pakistan would have meant forfeiting our commitment to protect our users’ privacy".
Beard said: "In July, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority notified the country’s mobile phone operators that BlackBerry’s BES servers would no longer be allowed to operate in the country starting in December 'for security reasons'."
PTA officials told Dawn.com that BlackBerry had been sent a notice in July 2015 regarding security concerns related to the company's BES offering and that the company had been given a deadline of Nov 30 for discontinuation of the service.
They said that BlackBerry has been cooperating with security agencies of other countries, but despite requests from Pakistani authorities, they were not cooperating in accordance with the National Action Plan formulated after the Dec 16 Taliban attacks on Peshawar's Army Public School.
'Unfettered access to user data'
He goes on to say the Pakistani government wanted the ability to monitor all BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) traffic in the country, including emails and BlackBerry Messenger messages.
"Pakistan’s demand was not a question of public safety; we are more than happy to assist law enforcement agencies in investigations of criminal activity. Rather, Pakistan was essentially demanding unfettered access to all of our BES customers’ information," the COO said.
Director BoloBhi and digital rights activist Farieha Aziz said the situation in Pakistan was getting worse, not better, as companies to whom privacy of data and protection of speech is important would be wary of establishing a presence in the country.
