Whatsapp may soon be another contender in the encryption battle, something very close to every smartphone user out there. The Department of Justice is taking a call on whether it needs to take a shot at prying open the messaging service.
Reports from New York Times says 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.
Everything is now 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 there are still plenty more who feel that it is better to keep off.
More importantly, WhatsApp which 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.
WhatsApp is everyone’s business, and things may get messy if the push goes aside.
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