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Come January, President-elect Barack Obama may have to part with one of his dearest friends, the lifeline that helped him power his way to the driver's seat of the United States: his BlackBerry.

The Presidential Records Act prohibits the U.S. leader from communication that may see any confidential information slip into the public sphere and risk major security breaches.

For chief executive officers who enjoy a power less potent than the “leader of the free world,” BlackBerry security is on the radar, but isn't top of mind.

“There's a huge difference between what I do and what the President of the United States does,” laughs Gary Gannage, president and CEO of the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario.

It's completely unheard of for a CEO or other corporate executives to ditch their devices, says Kevin Michaluk, the Winnipegger behind Crackberry.com, a website for the BlackBerry-addicted.

“That's where BlackBerrys started, with executives and CEOs and their need for global e-mail,” he says.

Productivity would be sorely hindered if corporate executives ceased clacking away on their tiny keyboards, says Craig Johnston, author of Professional BlackBerry. Besides, he adds, BlackBerry security is very tight.

“Everything is encrypted when you create a [message] so nobody can read that e-mail off the air, so to speak,” he says. “From that standpoint, it's very secure.”

More than 450 security policies are available for companies to block hackers and keep correspondence safe, according to representatives of Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry.

Robert Kao, a BlackBerry consultant for the financial sector in New York and co-author of BlackBerry for Dummies, says all corporate e-mails are recorded for seven years because of standards in the U.S. Patriot Act. His clients often question how safe their e-mails are.

“Security is definitely a very, very big thing,” he said, noting that many executives program their BlackBerrys to log out after two minutes of inactivity and the devices can only be reactivated using a password.

Mr. Gannage thinks everyone, and especially senior company officials, should be wary of what they say in an e-mail and know their system can be hacked at any time.

“Whether it's on my hip, whether it's on my desk or whether it's a laptop, I'd be smart about the kinds of things I'm articulating in an e-mail.”

The BlackBerry usage of our own powers-that-be is much more ambiguous than Mr. Obama's constant key tapping.

In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper created a strict no-BlackBerry-or-cellphone rule in caucus meetings, saying the devices distracted from business and posed a security risk.

Last year, Mr. Harper reportedly received a BlackBerry 8800 from the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. The Prime Minister's spokesman, Kory Teneycke, did not confirm yesterday whether Mr. Harper uses it, or any other handheld device.