WhatsApp: From now on calls, texts and more are encrypted
Encryption technologies that both Apple and WhatsApp have incorporated in their products make eavesdropping on private messages between people more difficult — for criminals and federal agents alike.
“From now on when you and your contacts use the latest version of the app, every call you make, and every message, photo, video, file and voice message you send, is end-to-end encrypted by default, including group chats,” the company said, in a blog post.
WhatsApp launched the feature with the help of Open Whisper Systems, a nonprofit that develops the similar smartphone messaging software Signal.
Even though the contents of WhatsApp messages are encrypted, the company does not hide who is texting whom, tweeted Micah Lee, a founder and board member of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.