WhatsApp snooping: Is RCS answer to government’s localisation problems?

The recent debacle around WhatsApp has raised one pertinent issue. Is the fact that the company doesn’t have servers in India unfair towards the consumer? The Indian government has, in the past, asked WhatsApp and other instant messaging (IM) platforms to create methods for the government to trace texts on the platform, but IMs have almost unanimously refused to create backdoors around encryption.

However, a recent development in text messaging technology may provide an answer to the government’s problems. Rich Communication Services (RCS) isn’t particularly new. In fact, it has been spoken about in global markets for a while now, but it has only just reached Indian shores.

RCS messages allow newer features, like read receipts, payments and more on SMS and work over a data network.