Facebook bolstered the default encryption settings for the more than one billion users of its popular WhatsApp messaging service so that all messages will now be accessible only to the sender and recipient.
The update arrives amid a heightened international debate over how much access law enforcement should have to digital communications and follows a high-profile showdown between Apple and the FBI over an encrypted iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
WhatsApp began working on developing full end-to-end encryption on its messages about two years ago with the help of software provided by Open Whisper Systems, a security nonprofit. The communications app began offering it by default on text-only messages between two users in 2014, but group messages and those containing rich media such as photos and videos were not fully encrypted.
As of Tuesday the entirety of WhatsApp messages will be supported by end-to-end encryption, the company said, meaning the company will not have any capability to read customers’ messages even if approached by law enforcement.
“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,” WhatsApp said in a blog post announcing the update. “Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us.”
Facebook’s decision to increase security of its messages occurs on the heels of the FBI’s high-profile attempt to force Apple to unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to a Syed Farouk, who along with his wife opened fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, in December, killing 14 and wounding 22.
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Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Indika
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
More from UAE Human Development Report:
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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