ISLAMABAD ( MEDIA REPORT )
WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption for all data sent via the instant messaging app, in a bid to bolster user privacy.
“The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us,” the company’s founders, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, wrote in a blog post.
The news comes as the FBI dropped lawsuit asking Apple to build a backdoor into the iPhone, in the latest example of authorities wanting access to user data, often to investigate criminal activity.
Last year, WhatsApp was blocked in Brazil possibly because it was unwilling to give up data related to a case involving a drug trafficker who allegedly used the messaging service.
“While we recognise the important work of law enforcement in keeping people safe, efforts to weaken encryption risk exposing people’s information to abuse,” WhatsApp’s blog post said.
Earlier this year, Koum said “a conversation about a back door is not productive as we will not do that”, adding that “bad guys will find them and break through them”.
What’s more, it was reported recently that Facebook not allowing Egypt’s government to spy on users of its Free Basics service was the reason the offering was banned in December. BlackBerry’s BBM has faced similar issues in countries like Pakistan.
Explaining the move towards encryption, WhatsApp said: “If nothing is done, more of people’s digital information and communication will be vulnerable to attack in the years to come,” adding that while it is one of the few platforms to offer protection, encryption “will ultimately represent the future of personal communication”.
“I grew up in the USSR during communist rule and the fact that people couldn’t speak freely is one of the reasons my family moved to the US,” added Koum.