BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. issued a statement to its customers assuring them that their data was secure, a day after regulators in the United Arab Emirates said they�d tussled with RIM over access to that data.

Monday�s statement also comes a day before a major product announcement for RIM, which is widely expected to roll out a new touch-screen smartphone with revamped software to challenge Apple Inc.�s iPhone 4 and devices that run on Google Inc.�s Android system.

The new BlackBerry is expected to have a slide-out keyboard in addition to its touch screen and be offered initially through AT&T Inc. in the U.S.

The U.A.E. said Sunday it would ban most BlackBerry services starting in October, citing national-security concerns. The country�s telecommunications regulator said Monday such a ban would apply to both domestic customers and international roaming users.

The government is worried it wouldn�t be able to compel RIM to turn over customer data, now processed in RIM�s private servers outside the country, said a person familiar with the situation.

The U.A.E. wanted RIM to locate servers in the country, where it had legal jurisdiction over them; RIM had offered access to the data of 3,000 clients instead, the person said.

RIM�s statement didn�t address the ban or its talks with U.A.E. directly, citing the �confidential nature�� of discussions with governments. But the company outlined the features of BlackBerry�s security system and said it would be impossible for RIM to circumvent them.

RIM said the BlackBerry network was set up so that �no one, including RIM, could access�� customer data, which is encrypted from the time it leaves the device. It added RIM would �simply be unable to accommodate any request�� for a key to decrypt the data, since the company doesn�t have the key.

The BlackBerry network is designed �to exclude the capability for RIM or any third party to read encrypted information under any circumstances,�� RIM�s statement said.

The location of BlackBerry�s servers doesn�t matter, the company said, because the data on them can�t be deciphered without a decryption key.

�RIM assures customers that it will not compromise the integrity and security of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution,�� the statement said.

RIM�s statement comes as a number of countries, including India and Kuwait, say they want more ability to monitor BlackBerry communications, in the interests of national security.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)