06 April,2016 11:26 AM IST | | Jagran Post
The announcement has come close on the heels of a legal battle between Apple and FBI over the US agency's demand that the iPhone maker help unlock its mobile phones.
The announcement has come close on the heels of a legal battle between Apple and FBI over the US agency's demand that the iPhone maker help unlock its mobile phones. Many Silicon Valley players had supported Apple citing that user data privacy needs to be respected.
"WhatsApp has always prioritised making your data and communication as secure as possible. And today, we're proud to announce that we've completed a technological development that makes WhatsApp a leader in protecting your private communication: full end-to-end encryption," WhatsApp founder Jan Koum said on the company blogpost.
He added that the latest version of the app will encrypt every call, message, photo, video, file and voice message that is sent on the platform by default, including group chats.
"No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. End-to-end encryption helps make communication via WhatsApp private -sort of like a face-to-face conversation," he said.
The post by Koum, who grew up in Soviet-era USSR during the Communist rule, said the fact that people couldn't speak freely was one of the reasons his family moved to the US. He added that end-to-end encryption will ultimately represent the future of personal communication.
