WhatsApp encrypts messages from beginning to end
Nov 18, 2014 5:45 PM (ET)
By BRANDON BAILEY
Associated Press
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20141118/us-tec--whatsapp_encryption-5e3fb99804.html
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — WhatsApp, the globally popular instant messaging
system owned by Facebook, has begun using a powerful new encryption
program aimed at protecting users' conversations from unwanted
surveillance and snooping.
The messaging service, which has 600 million users and is especially
popular in Europe and Asia, added the new encryption to its last update
for Android smartphones, according to Open Whisper Systems, the San
Francisco-based software group that developed the "TextSecure" program
with help from U.S. government grants and private funding.
Privacy advocates say WhatsApp's decision to incorporate so-called
"end-to-end" encryption will help users communicate without the fear of
someone reading their messages. WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum has said
he's deeply committed to user privacy because he grew up in the Soviet
Union during the 1980s, when his mother and other adults routinely
assumed that authorities eavesdropped on their phone calls. The move
comes as other leading tech companies also are boosting data encryption,
despite criticism from some in law enforcement who say that can make it
more difficult for authorities to catch terrorists or other criminals.
Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. encrypt users' email and messages while
they move within each company's network, so they can't be read by
outsiders. But experts say those messages can still be scanned at
certain points by the companies themselves, for commercial purposes such
as advertising, and can be read by authorities if subpoenaed. Apple and
Google also encrypt user data when it's stored on their mobile devices.
TextSecure takes that a step further; it's designed to make WhatsApp
messages unable to be read by anyone but the sender and recipient, even
if subpoenaed. The encryption feature is offered by default, meaning
WhatsApp users don't have to turn it on and shouldn't notice its
presence, according to a statement from Open Whisper Systems. WhatsApp
declined comment Tuesday.
Apple's iMessage service also encrypts data from "end-to-end" but some
experts say Apple's program has technical features that may leave it
vulnerable to determined snooping. TextSecure isn't yet available for
WhatsApp on iPhones, but Open Whisper said it is working to make the
feature available to iOS and other non-Android mobile users.
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