No plan for data analysis system in India: RIM

Research In Motion has denied an Indian media report that said the company has offered to install a network data analysis system at its India office to allow access to emails sent through its BlackBerry smartphones to Indian security agencies.

"This (the media report) is both false and technologically infeasible," the Wall Street Journal quoted the Canada-based smartphone maker, as saying in an emailed statement.

Earlier, The Economic Times newspaper had reported that the BlackBerry smartphone maker offered to install the system to help India's security agencies decode data sent through its phone networks.

The report, citing an internal communication between RIM and India's federal home ministry, said RIM agreed to a suggestion by the ministry that the Canadian company set up this infrastructure that can automatically decode all data on its network.

However, in its emailed statement, RIM said: "There will be no change to the security model of BlackBerry Enterprise Service."

The newspaper report had also said RIM had been "slapped with a January 31 deadline to provide a final solution for lawful interception of services offered on its handsets."

RIM clarified in the emailed statement that the reported January 31 deadline is incorrect and that the report also contradicts comments from the government of India.

The company has been under pressure from the Indian government to provide access to data on its secure networks.

India wants to monitor RIM's corporate email and messenger services, fearing the heavy encryption of BlackBerry makes these smartphones convenient for terrorists to use without being monitored. The South Asian country has threatened to ban the services if RIM does not provide such access.