Security News > 2021 > September > WhatsApp’s End-to-End Encryption Isn’t Actually Broken

End-to-end encryption isn't designed to secure messages against the intended recipients.

New revelations about WhatsApp's moderator access to messages last week might seem like they run counter to the company's privacy-forward brand, but a closer look shows the messaging service's privacy protections remain in place and are operating as intended.

"Yes, WhatsApp is reviewing a lot of unencrypted messages, but it's at the behest of a trusted party in that conversation," Gulley said.

While ProPublica's reporting on the moderation function shows this statement isn't exactly 100 percent true in all cases, security pros argue this is hardly a user privacy violation, and that the report, while unflattering, doesn't prove that WhatsApp is abusing user messages.

"It's not a situation encryption is designed to protect against. Further, a message is displayed that clearly indicates to the reporting user that a specific number of messages will be shared with the moderation team when they choose to report."

WhatsApp only has access to metadata, rather than the messages themselves, but that metadata can be incredibly valuable to law enforcement.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/whatsapp-end-encryption-broken/169399/