Heh Heh -a neutral party -heh heh! Good one James.

He'll have a Hucklebery [sic] for every need!

Lindsay Graham is joining his Cabinet? Who knew...

That said, it could be the best and still not be good enough.

Also, instead of reverse engineering everything, why not give the President something like the Neo Freerunner* and the NSA guys can spend all their time making everything about it secure.

(*) They could use an Android phone if they only cared about the integrity of the software.

I remember when Bush became president and he had to give up e-mail for communicating with family and friends. That's just not right and leads to the further isolation of the president.

I will extend that to e-mail, though as it actually serves as its own record, I think it can be accessible some time after he has left office.

I'm more concerned about the security of using devices like a BlackBerry. As James knows, things like cell phones, PDAs, and their all-in-one replacements are excluded from secure environments.

The USG does not run the security for BlackBerry, iPhone, or the others. Consequently, it will not rely on the the security provided for those devices. When even a turned-off cell phone can be hacked into a radio transmitter, there will be enormous security implications to a president's using such devices in the office.

The USG will not even buy the IBM Lenovo computers (built in China) because it cannot adequately ensure the security of the circuitry, it's not about to open the door to other devices.

Maybe it would be a good idea for NSA to reverse engineer all the circuitry and software used in modern telecommunications gear in order to ensure security. A lot of non-government people might enjoy the benefits of that. If you think so (though I hear the EFF screaming already), lobby your congressman.

We don't do that, for the reasons you state, a feeling about personal privacy.

A line was sort of drawn, but it sort of evolved out of history and old technology as well. Pieces of paper were considered records and had retention policies. Audio tapes, once made, became records as well - though there was no obligation to make them.

What we still "feel" is personal is based on that history and old tech.

I actually lean toward the position that emails, and text chat, are records simply because they replace the paper equivalents. So for me they fall on that side of the line.

Apparently the White House has lost a bit of the battle not to recover its emails ... another weird technology/policy interaction. Were you obliquely referring to this?

I personally want those recovered, first because I think existing courts want them (Plame), and second for the historical record. I think they will show us something about the origins of the Iraq war.

If the President wants personal time, he can pick up the phone, or talk face to face. I'm sure the funniest-business in any Presidency is face to face, no records, anyway.