For security and privacy reasons, Barack Obama will have to give up his BlackBerry soon. He gave up smoking shortly before his election, now he will have to give up his phone.

AP today wrote:

The president’s e-mail can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws, so if a president doesn’t want his e-mail public, he shouldn’t e-mail, experts said. And there may be security issues about carrying around trackable cell phones.

Obama transition officials haven’t made a decision on what the new president will or will not carry, but those who have been there say it’s unlikely he’ll carry his BlackBerry and he may be in for some withdrawal pains. “Definitely he’s going to feel an electronic detoxing,” said Reed Dickens, former assistant press secretary to President George W. Bush.

President-elect Obama has often been seen avidly checking his e-mail on his handheld equipment. This past summer, news cameras recorded him checking his BlackBerry while watching his daughter’s soccer game, only to have Michelle Obama slap at his hands, prompting him to return the device to its holster.

Actress Scarlett Johansson said she has had frequent e-mail exchanges with him during his campaign travels, something the Obama campaign downplayed.

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