US, allies seek access to Facebook encrypted messaging apps
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US Attorney General William Barr and his British and Australian counterparts are pressing Facebook to create a so-called backdoor to give authorities access to encrypted messages on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms.
In their letter, Barr, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and Australia Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton ask Facebook to give law enforcement a way to read WhatsApp messages during criminal investigations and to hold off on plans to extend encryption across messaging platforms.
The three governments argue encrypted messaging has given cover to terrorists, child predators and other criminals, something law enforcement has termed “going dark.”
Facebook said Thursday that users have the right to have private conversations online and that companies are already able to respond to government requests when they receive valid legal requests
The request, set to be delivered in an open letter on Friday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, reignites a battle between tech companies and law enforcement over balancing the privacy of billions of users and fighting crime.
“Companies should not deliberately design their systems to preclude any form of access to content, even for preventing or investigating the most serious crimes,” they wrote.
Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service already has end-to-end encryption, meaning that even Facebook cannot read the text messages of the platform’s 1.5 billion users. The California-based social media giant has announced plans to extend encryption to Messenger and Instagram Direct.
