WhatsApp is now rolling out end-to-end encrypted chat cloud backups, enabling users to keep a copy of their messaging history without compromising their privacy. The feature is rolling out to users gradually while the company monitors the experience, ensuring any potential issues can be addressed before everyone has access to the backup option.
Facebook seems to have something like a reverse Midas touch where it infects anything it buys with a certain curse. Social networks that were thriving before they became Facebook properties have been transformed into questionable businesses that rely on violating privacy to make a profit. That even includes WhatsApp, whose claim to fame has always been its end-to-end encryption and privacy guarantee. Now it turns out that there might be a small loophole that gives Facebook a bit of wiggle room to actually break that trust, usually under the guise of observing the law.
A few years after Facebook rolled out end-to-end encryption for text-based chats comes a welcome update: end-to-end encrypted video and voice calls. With this new feature, users can engage in more secure calls over Facebook Messenger, giving them an alternative to WhatsApp and other similar platforms. Facebook has also added a new Messenger text feature for encrypted users, as well as offering a preview of what it has next in the pipeline.
Data encryption has been around for decades, but it has taken on a more political tone in the past few years. There has been a strong market push to encrypt messages and data on smartphones, but there has also been a strong pushback from governments who want a backdoor for the sake of security or other interests. For companies like Facebook, however, encrypting data like WhatsApp messages is both a selling factor and a potential business killer. Now the social networking giant is allegedly researching ways to still glean some juicy data for advertising purposes without breaking the security of encrypted data.
Just because your WhatsApp messages may be end-to-end encrypted, doesn't mean Facebook won't one day potentially be able to use the contents for advertising. While one of the big assumptions about encryption has been that the messaging platforms themselves aren't privy to what you're discussing with your contacts, a new push to develop homomorphic encryption techniques could change the stakes.
WhatsApp has introduced a key privacy feature that'll help prevent unwanted snooping in your old chat logs -- but you can only access it if you're a beta user on Android. With the latest beta update, WhatsApp now offers encrypted cloud backups, meaning that anyone who acquires your stored chat logs won't be able to read them.
Messaging has become so common among smartphone and Internet users that people often take it for granted that their conversations may not always be just between them. Unlike face-to-face or even telephone conversations, the chances of third parties, especially unauthorized actors, snooping in on private dialogue are so much higher in Internet-based messaging services. To fight such privacy intrusions, Google is finally flipping the switch for E2EE, short for end-to-end encryption, on its Messages platform. Provided you meet certain requirements, that is.
Encrypted privacy-centric messaging app Signal has announced a beta test called Signal Payments. As the name suggests, this new beta involves testing a beta feature that lets users send and receive money through the app -- though, in this case, the transactions involve a private cryptocurrency called MobileCoin.
Several months after stating that it would introduce the highly requested security feature, Zoom is finally rolling out end-to-end encryption on its remote working platform, providing users with a more secure option at times when it is needed. The company first announced plans to release an E2EE feature back in May, but it has taken a while to introduce the option, which will first arrive as a technical preview.
A lot of the narrative around protecting user data often happens in the context of the cloud or the Internet, where data is often vulnerable to snooping and hijacking. Data stored on local storage, however, are just as or even more vulnerable, especially when talking about portable external storage. Encryption is, of course, an option, but one that comes as the cost of speed and flexibility. Western Digital is now boasting that its new ArmorLock encrypted NVMe SSD can let you have your security cake and eat it, too.
Secure messaging app Telegram is back with a new update, this one bringing one of the most-requested features from users: video calls. The new capability is joined by the same security that draws many to the platform, offering a more secure alternative to regular phone calls and many other video apps. As well, the update also brings another batch of fun, animated emoji.
Encrypted messaging app Signal is making it easier to evaluate a potential contact before letting them have access to your profile, giving users more control over who is able to connect with them. This new feature comes in the form of message requests, which means anyone who isn't already in your phone's contacts will be presented for you to accept or reject before they can message.