In the News: Obama to keep BlackBerry
President Barack Obama will continue to use his BlackBerry for personal correspondence, making him the first sitting president to use e-mail,
the Associated Press reports.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama had struck a compromise that would limit the use of the device but still allow Obama to "stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends." Gibbs said security on Obama's BlackBerry had been enhanced to help keep communication protected, according to the AP.
Gibbs said the White House counsel's office is operating under the assumption that correspondence sent and received via the BlackBerry would be subject to the Presidential Records Act, the law requiring the National Archives to preserve presidential records. But he added that the law allows some exemptions for "strictly personal communications."