WhatsApp is one of the biggest and most popular apps in the world with over a billion users. One of the app's main features is that it has a double encryption to stop criminals from looking at conversations. This means that if someone is having a conversation, no matter which phone you try and hack into, you wouldn't be able to see it. This is great for personal security, however the critics say that it is giving criminals a free reign of the internet.
The home secretary, Amber Rudd yesterday called on the company to allow the governement and the law to be able to look at the messages should they need to, otherwise she'd ban the app. I think we all know that she isn't going to ban an app with more than a billion users around the world. This would put the UK in a very select group of countries including North Korea, China and until very recently Saudi Arabia.
Personally I can see both sides of the argument. I get that WhatsApp want to keep the conversations private and free from prying eyes. However, surely it can't be that much of a hassle for WhatsApp to allow the governement to view suspected criminals' conversations. If they have enough proof or the user has a criminal record it would surely be beneficial to let the government view those conversations. This is already damaging their brand image, if a serious crime were to be organised on WhatsApp and that was made public then it could tarnish the name beyond all repair.
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