UK Government Ministers Denied Apple iPhones

British government ministers and civil servants cannot use an iPhone as a work device, although RIM’s Blackberry devices are issued to some ministers.

Despite very fast sales for Apple’s new iPhone 4, the device is not approved for use by ministers or civil servants within Whitehall, according to a written answer to Parliament by health secretary Simon Burns.

Government security fears

“The only mobile telecoms or personal digital assistant devices that have been issued to ministers of the department are BlackBerries,” said Burns. Ministers in the health department have been issued with BlackBerries, and so will those in other government departments, he said.

The iPhone ban is on the advice of the Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG), part of the government technology intelligence service GCHQ which advises government on IT security.

Burns was answering a question from Labour MP Tom Watson, a former digital minister, who has been outspoken on issues including the Labour overnments Digital Economy Act, which contains measures on piracy which Watson opposes.

Blackberry devices have traditionally been seen as safe and enterprise-friendly, but there have been signs that the Apple iPhone is making inroads into corporate accounts, although it was originally designed for consumers. AT&T has reported that around 40 percent of iPhones are bought for business, and London-based Standard Chartered Bank is offering staff the option to have company iPhones.

Although RIM has the upper hand in business email, the company is reportedly not taking Apple’s competition lying down. The company is is reportedly working on a Blackberry tablet to compete with Apple’s extremely popular iPad. The Apple tablet has already sold more than two million devices, and is expected to make its presence felt in the office – tablets have been backed for business use by analysts Forrester and Gartner