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BlackBerry will continue to operate in Pakistan after all

The government has dropped its request for user data.

BlackBerry has decided to stay and operate in Pakistan. Earlier this year, when the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority asked for "unfettered access" to users' information, including emails and BBM exchanges, the Canadian phone company refused to allow back door access that would jeopardize the privacy of its customers. The government pushed back and notified local mobile phone operators to discontinue BlackBerry Enterprise Service for "security reasons". With the shut down order looming over its existence, the company decided it was better to leave the country rather than change its privacy policy.

Now, after a round of "productive discussions", the government has dropped its order. So BlackBerry will remain in the Pakistan market and it won't be risking private data. Marty Beard, chief operating officer of BlackBerry, wrote on the company's blog: "We are grateful to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Pakistani government for accepting BlackBerry's position that we cannot provide the content of our customers' BES traffic, nor will we provide access to our BES servers."