India ‘vindicated’ on WhatsApp traceability after US, UK, Aus write to Facebook: MeitY

The government of India has said its position on traceability on WhatsApp has been “vindicated” following a Friday letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg by key officials of three countries. The letter largely dealt with concerns around Facebook’s privacy-centric plans, which include end-to-end encryption across its suite of messenger-based applications, including WhatsApp.

In the letter signed by US attorney general William Barr, UK home secretary Priti Patel, acting US home secretary Kevin McAleenan, and Australia’s minister for home affairs Peter Dutton, these officials wrote, “We are writing to request that Facebook does not proceed with its plan to implement end-to-end encryption across its messaging services without ensuring that there is no reduction to user safety and without including a means for lawful access to the content of communications to protect our citizens.”