WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook has requested all the law enforcement authorities around the world that it will not offer any backdoor to retrieve information due to mobile security concerns.
The California-based freeware cross-platform service which offers end to end encrypted instant messaging services reacted to the request put forward by UK’s Intelligence agency investigating last week’s Westminster Bridge Attack.
British press reports that Masood used the messaging app owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage took place which killed three pedestrians and one police officer. As the British security officials are unable to break the encrypted message the investigation has literally frozen at this stage.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd requested the California-based messaging service on Sunday to offer a backdoor to law enforcement agencies to retrieve sensitive information in relation to such cases. Ms. Rudd wants the technology companies to take up a bigger responsibility in securing the integrity of a nation by sharing data of their respective users who have legal warrants against them.
At the same time, she stressed on the fact that companies should not be forced to deliberately weaken their products by any government in the world.
But Whatsapp seems to have intentions to follow the path of Apple Inc and so it has resisted the request of accessing its service users data.
The spokesperson of the popular messaging service said that offering a back door to its service will turn into a big threat to the online safety and security objective of its users. And that’s due to the fact that the backdoor technique can be used over and over again, on any number of devices, as it would be equivalent to a master key capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks.
Makes sense isn’t it….? Then what’s the solution in such cases…?
Perhaps the tech companies should soon form a board that takes steps to make the web less useful to extremists.
