Privacy and security are two of the most important features of online communication. Users know this and the key players in the sector need to ensures their systems are secure if they are to gain the confidence of the users.
Facebook wants to ensure users on its messaging giant, WhatsApp, are secure as the company is reportedly planning to encrypt voice calls and group chats on the instant messaging site. You probably know that Facebook bought WhatsApp a while back and even though the latter is run independently, Facebook has control over anything it does.
WhatsApp currently has legal issues with authorities is Brazil where it has been issued with court orders to allow the authorities to access user’s WhatsApp data. WhatsApp has not been able to release the data as it has been encrypting messages since 2014. This means that there is a real threat from governments going forward but WhatsApp has plans to block any loopholes that might be used.
According to The Guardian, WhatsApp plans to introduce end-to-end encryption for group chats and voice calls. This will mean that your voice calls and group chats are more secure that they have been before. This is a great move but still does not put WhatsApp on the same level as Telegram which always advocated for security and privacy.
WhatsApp has not been too keen to sell its privacy features to users even though these features are there and even its founder is quoted saying that users should expect such features not as added value but rather as a given feature.
WhatsApp will be making a formal announcement about this in the coming weeks and that is when it will communicate its plan and what it intends to do.
Read More: Sharing documents through WhatsApp is about to get a whole lot easier
Source: Guardian
