The first US president to use email is banned from having an iPhone - forced instead to use a Blackberry limited to 10 people

Despite being the most powerful man in the world, President Barack Obama is not allowed to use an iPhone because his security advisers have claimed it is not secure enough.

“I am not allowed, for security reasons, to have an iPhone,” Obama quipped during a pitch for his healthcare law at the White House, intimating that he was forced to be behind the curve in technology adoption.

His daughters, Sasha and Malia, however, do have iPhones, and “seem to spend a lot of time” using them, he said.

The iPhone is insecure

Obama famously became the first president in US history to use email and battled with the NSA in 2009 to allow him to keep a BlackBerry, a fight he eventually won although it is allegedly restricted to communicating with just 10 people.

Apple’s iPhone has yet to be certified as secure for government and military use by White House staff, meaning that the president and his staff are restricted from using Apple’s smartphone.

Despite not being allowed an iPhone, Obama does have an iPad 2, which was personally given to him by Steve Jobs before the device was released to the public in 2011.

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