WhatsApp and Facebook icons.
While Apple has been in quite a mess over its stand on encryption, we may soon have another contender in the encryption battle, something even closer to every smartphone user out there, WhatsApp. Yes, after Facebook’s short stint with data encryption in Brazil, it is now the Justice Department who is taking a call on whether it needs to take a shot at prying open the messaging service.
The New York Times reports that the Justice Department is now weighing its options to see if it is worth taking up a fight with messaging giant WhatsApp that was acquired by social media giant Facebook.
The need for the same once again emanates from an ongoing investigation that has come to a halt, because of WhatsApp’s encryption policies. A federal judge had asked for a wiretap, but WhatsApp’s encryption policies prevent the investigation from going any further.
For now, everything is on hold as the department has not come to a conclusion as to how it will tackle the case. According to the same source, while many are ok with tackling WhatsApp (and Facebook) there are plenty more who feel that it is better to keep off.
More importantly, WhatsApp that has almost a billion users worldwide, was acquired by Facebook in 19 February, 2014. So it is indeed Facebook that the Justice Department will be up against and this could get worse as Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg made things clear that he was with Apple in the company’s ongoing battle with the FBI.
While Apple’s products may not have been everyone’s business, WhatsApp is, and things may get messy if push comes to shove.
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