BlackBerry sets raise fear U.S. is snooping in France

PARIS -- BlackBerry handhelds have been called addictive, invasive, wonderful -- and now, a threat to French state secrets.

That, at least, is the fear of French government defense experts, who have advised against their use by officials in France's corridors of power, reportedly to avoid snooping by U.S. intelligence agencies.

"It's not a question of trust," French lawmaker Pierre Lasbordes told The Associated Press. "We are friends with the Americans, the Anglo-Saxons, but it's economic war."

Le Monde newspaper, which broke the story, described BlackBerry withdrawal among those who have given them up. "We feel that we are wasting huge amounts of time, having to relearn how to work in the old way," the daily quoted a ministry office director as saying.

E-mail messages sent from "Le BlackBerry" pass through servers in the United States and Britain, and France fears that makes the system vulnerable to snooping by the U.S. National Security Agency, Le Monde reported.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. insisted that BlackBerry e-mail messages cannot be read by the NSA or other organizations. The messages are more heavily encrypted than online banking Web sites, Research In Motion said in a statement.

The BlackBerry system has been accredited by security agencies in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Austria and Canada, Research in Motion said, adding that a certification process is under way in the Netherlands and Germany.