Tech firms should comply with “reasonable” lawful access requests from governments, said BlackBerry CEO John Chen.

Following the major debate about whether Apple should allow the FBI to have a back door into iPhones, BlackBerry is involved in a similar discussion about allowing governments access to its devices.

Chen appeared to take a more conservative line than Apple in his blog comments.

“We have long been clear in our stance that tech companies as good corporate citizens should comply with reasonable lawful access requests,” he wrote.

“I have stated before that we are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good,” he added.

His comments follow a report by Vice News that Canadian police have had a global encryption key for accessing BlackBerry devices since 2010.

Chen, referencing what he termed “an old case that recently resurfaced in the news”, said: “In the end, the case resulted in a major criminal organisation being dismantled. Regarding BlackBerry’s assistance, I can reaffirm that we stood by our lawful access principles.”

However, Chen said the firm did not give police access to its BES server, presumably a comment designed to reassure its enterprise customers.  “Our BES continues to be impenetrable – also without the ability for backdoor access – and is the most secure mobile platform for managing all mobile devices.”

Chen also mentioned an incident from the end of 2015 in Pakistan where BlackBerry threatened to leave the country rather than give the government access to its BES servers. The firm said the government dropped a request for access, as well as rescinding a shutdown order.

“For BlackBerry, there is a balance between doing what’s right, such as helping to apprehend criminals, and preventing government abuse of invading citizen’s privacy, including when we refused to give Pakistan access to our servers,” wrote Chen. “We have been able to find this balance even as governments have pressured us to change our ethical grounds. Despite these pressures, our position has been unwavering and our actions are proof we commit to these principles.”