Fri, Mar 6, 2009 10:39 EST

RIM: We Don’t Record ANY Staff BlackBerry Phone Calls

Topic: Enterprise Management

Current Rating: Comments: 2

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has responded to reports that it records all of its employees’ BlackBerry messaging and phone transmissions, saying such claims are false and that it does not log and retain any of its staffers’ voice communications.

RIM CIO Robin Bienfait

Yesterday, I offered my take on “news” of RIM’s extensive employee monitoring, which originated from a ZDNet Australia post in which RIM’s CIO Robin Bienfait stated:

“Everything. I record everything.”

However, RIM says the ZDNet article got it wrong: Those statements were taken WAY out of context, and that Bienfait was speaking of a small-scale pilot project in which a number of RIM employees were involved.

From RIM:

“RIM does not record employee phone calls. Robin Bienfait's comments…were intended to describe a capability that exists with RIM's BlackBerry MVS technology. This technology allows companies to record both voice and data based conversations, which is particularly useful for RIM's customers in regulated industries that require such ability, but Ms. Bienfait did not intend to suggest that RIM itself records employee phone calls.

“RIM has deployed an internal beta test of its latest MVS technology to a subset of employees and Ms. Bienfait intended to convey that RIM was recording data that is transmitted over voice channels (ie. SMS messages) as well as data channels (ie. email messages and IM chat sessions), but RIM is not recording the phone calls of the employees involved in the beta test or any other employees.”

As I stated in my original post, I didn’t think RIM was recording voice transmissions—in fact, I’d heard information to the contrary in the past. That’s why Bienfait’s comments were so surprising to me, and why I decided to write about them in the first place.

However, judging from the wealth of e-mail and other messaged I received after posting, I may have been the only one who was even remotely taken aback by the reports. To all those readers: RIM is not currently recording and keeping records of its employees’ BlackBerry voice calls, according to its public relations team.

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All Comments Comments

Tue, Mar 10, 2009 16:24 EDT

Much Bigger Question About Call Recording

Posted by: Dr. Jim Anderson
Rating:

So it appears as though there was some confusion here; however, once the ability to record "everything" exists, someone is going to go ahead and do it. What needs to be remembered is that have so much data is not only an asset, but a liability.

Just image what you'd have to do if you recorded every employee's communications (voice, SMS, data) and then you got served with a legal discovery notice. You'd have a lot of mixed media searching to do - what a hassle and what an expense.

There is a great deal to be learned from the NSA that arguably has had the ability to listen to just about everything all the time: it's too much information. Instead, take the time, energy, and storage costs and instead invest them in employee training on what needs to stay within the company. You'll reduce your costs, reduce your exposure, and make your employees feel as though you trust them. Sure sounds like a win-win-win to me.

.
- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Business of IT Blog
"Discover The Secrets Of Making Your IT Department An Indispensable Profit Center"

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Wed, Mar 11, 2009 9:10 EDT

Re: Much Bigger Question....

Posted by: Al Sacco
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Hi Jim,

Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

You’re absolutely right that keeping extensive records of employee communications can be both a benefit and a risk. However, if a company decides that such measures are necessary—or it’s forced into them for legal/compliance reasons—that company needs to find a suitable way to archive/manage all that data. Period.

Would it be a hassle and an expense, as you wrote? Certainly. But that’s irrelevant if the decision has been made or a company has little say in the matter.

I do agree that employee training on the subject of what must “stay inside the company” is a great way to proactively reduce related issues. But companies that record all of their employees’ communications are probably more worried about staffers knowingly breaking corporate polices than they are about mistakes. And no degree of employee education can completely protect an organization from employees with malicious intent.

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Al Sacco writes about (and drools over) anything and everything mobile or wireless as it applies to the global workforce--with a focus on BlackBerry smartphones.

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