Photographs: Reuters
After Edward Snowden* revealed that US agencies monitored phones of the world leaders; every country is ensuring that the phones of its important officials are secured against hacking and espionage. According to media reports, The US National Security Agency had eavesdropped on 35 world leaders.
As countries upgrade communication devices of the head of states, let’s take a look at the preferred phones of PMs, Presidents, and important politicians globally.
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* An American computer professional, ex-employee of the Central Intelligence Agency and former contractor for the National Security Agency, Snowden came to international attention after disclosing to several media outlets thousands of classified documents that he acquired while working as an NSA contractor for the IT consulting firm Dell.
Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Obama
Designation: President
Country: US
The US president loves his Blackberry. According to The Guardian, the security agencies have enhanced security on his phone further to protect him against hackers and spy agencies of other countries.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Hillary Clinton
Designation: Former Senator
Country: US
Hillary Clinton is pictured many times with her Blackberry phone. Her photos with phone even inspired a Tumblr page called textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Chris Wattie/Reuters
Vladimir Putin
Designation: President
Country: Russia
The Russian President has denied using mobile phones. A former KGB spy, his aversion to using phone is attributed to security concerns. However, UK-based The Telegraph reported that since 2012 he has been seen using an Android phone by MTS.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
Nawaz Sharif
Designation: Prime Minister
Country: Pakistan
As per The Guardian report, Sharif uses Blackberry phone. He is fan of Blackberry Messenger that he uses to keep in touch with close ones.
He has also been spotted using Apple and Samsung phones that belong to ‘members of his entourage’.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Reuters
David Cameron
Designation: Prime Minister
Country: UK
The UK PM is another one among the Blackberry fans. Despite security concerns over hacking and espionage, he wanted to retain his phone. According to Telegraph, he recently agreed to use encrypted phone.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Petar Kujundzic/Reuters
Kim Jong-un
Designation: Premier
Country: North Korea
The North Korean supreme leader was pictured with a phone at a national security meeting in early 2013. Most believe that it was a HTC Butterfly handset.
North Korea manufactures its own Android-based smartphones called Arirang. And the use of mobile phones are restricted only to 10 per cent of the total population, which include officials, their families, wealthy residents and businesspersons.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Tobais Schwarz/Reuters
Angela Merkel
Designation: Chancellor
Country: Germany
The Germany’s head of state uses at least two phones - a Nokia 6260 Slide and a BlackBerry Z10. For party matters, she uses Nokia and for state affairs the Blackberry.
Her phones came into limelight when there were reports that US eavesdropped on her calls.
In fact, she had called up Obama demanding an explanation on the confidential reports released by Edward Snowden that US spy agencies were monitoring her calls.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
Francois Hollande
Designation: President
Country: France
Hollande is seen using his iPhone 5 quite often. But the phone is used only for personal purpose.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters
Nicolas Sarkozy
Designation: Former President
Country: France
Guardian states that the former President is addicted to Blackberry. The security agencies tried giving him a highly secured Teorem phone, which he refused as it was cumbersome to use.
To escape phone tapping, Sarkozy allegedly bought a phone using identity of a French citizen called Paul Bismuth, who has threatened legal action against the former President.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: B Mathur/Reuters
Yingluck Shinawatra
Designation: Former Prime Minister
Country: Thailand
According to Telegraph, the ousted Prime Minister owns five smartphones including an iPhone 5. And her phone ownership is not surprising, as the tech savvy politician had served as the CEO of Thailand's largest mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: Max Rossi/Reuters
Matteo Renzi
Designation: Prime Minister
Country: Italy
The Italian PM is an Apple fanboy. In fact, when Steve Jobs died, he wrote a tribute to Apple co-founder on his Facebook page.
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Which smartphones do Obama, Putin, Cameron use?
Photographs: B Mathur/Reuters
Dr Manmohan Singh
Designation: Former Prime Minister
Country: India
Just like his Russian counterpart, the former Prime Minister of India does not own a mobile phone or operate an email account.
When the the revelations came to light that US spy agencies were monitoring calls of the world leaders, Indian PM’s office said that they have nothing to worry about, as Manmohan Singh neither has a personal number nor an email address.
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