When the encryption battle between Apple and the FBI first started, WhatsApp was quick to offer its support to Apple, but that support didn’t mean much when WhatsApp doesn’t even encrypt its own services. However, the company announced on Tuesday that this is no longer the case, as it now offers end-to-end encryption for its more than one billion users. The announcement was made by WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum, as well as a well known cryptographer who goes by the name of Moxie Marlinspike, and has been partnering with WhatsApp for about a year.
WhatsApp has always prioritized 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. 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 idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. 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. If you’re interested in learning more about how end-to-end encryption works, you can read about it here. But all you need to know is that end-to-end encrypted messages can only be read by the recipients you intend. And if you’re using the latest version of WhatsApp, you don’t have to do a thing to encrypt your messages: end-to-end encryption is on by default and all the time.
