Obama may lose gadget rights

US president-elect Barack Obama may be forced to give up use of his BlackBerry, according to reports in The New York Times.

Data transparency regulations and security concerns could oblige Obama to stop using the smartphone for emails during his tenure as the 44th president of the US.

The report cites the Presidential Records Act, a federal law which requires the White House to log and archive every email the president sends, and make the messages available to the general public.

Additionally, email concerns over sending messages through a public network could force Obama to refrain from using the device.

The rules could provide an ironic set of restrictions on Obama, who relied on the web for much of his campaign and was credited as the most wired presidential candidate ever.

Obama has made improvements to the web a central part of his campaign, and has even vowed to appoint a national chief technology officer.

Many in the technology industry expect him to be more involved in technology matters than previous presidents.