India Closer to Dream of Full BlackBerry Surveillance

Access to Research in Motion’s BlackBerry messenger service evidently wasn’t enough to fully address India’s security concerns over the device.

Sources in the Indian government tell Reuters that the country’s interior ministry has asked RIM (RIMM) for the ability to monitor BlackBerry corporate emails as well. “They have started giving us access to messenger service from September 1,” the source said. “Discussions are under way so that we get access to the other service which is corporate email so that we can read it in readable format.”

Faced with threats to suspend some BlackBerry services in India, RIM executives seem to be reassessing their cede-no-ground position on these issues and working to find a balance between the privacy needs of their customers and compliance with foreign-government security requirements.

I’ve asked RIM for comment on the Reuters report and will update here if I’m given one.