WhatsApp extends encryption beyond texts to photos, videos, group chats and calls
WhatsApp says it is using a powerful form of encryption to protect the security of photos, videos, group chats and voice calls in addition to the text messages sent by its more than 1 billion users worldwide.
The service, owned by Facebook Inc., began applying “end to end” encryption to standard messages sent on Android smartphones in 2014. It confirmed Tuesday that its encryption now works with all forms of communication on its app for Android phones, Apple Inc.’s iPhones and other devices.
Encryption has become a hotly debated subject, with some U.S. authorities warning that criminals and violent extremists can use it to hide their tracks. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, who grew up in the Soviet Union, says he believes people should have easy-to-use encryption as protection against hackers and identity thieves, as well as governments that spy on their own citizens.
WhatsApp’s use of encryption has already caused friction in Brazil, where authorities recently arrested and then released a Facebook executive after the company said it was unable to unscramble a user’s encrypted messages. That’s because end-to-end encryption automatically encodes each message with an algorithm that can be unlocked only by the sender and recipient.
A handful of less popular services, including Signal, Wickr and Telegram, use end-to-end encryption. Others don’t use encryption at all. Google Inc., Facebook and Yahoo Inc. use less extensive encryption to protect emails and messages while they’re in transit but retain the ability to scan messages at certain points and can unlock them under a court order.
Apple uses end-to-end encryption for its iMessage service, but some experts say WhatsApp’s method may be more secure because it provides a security code that senders and recipients can use to verify a message came from someone they know — not from a hacker posing as a friend.
WhatsApp uses encryption technology from Open Whisper Systems, a San Francisco group that developed its software with private funding and government grants, including a State Department program that encouraged encryption as a defense against repressive regimes.
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