Social media platforms based in the U.S. including Facebook and WhatsApp will be forced to share users’ encrypted messages with British police under a new treaty between the two countries

Facebook and its messaging tool WhatsApp will have to give UK police access to users' encrypted messages under an upcoming treaty with the United States, says a Saturday report by Bloomberg, which cited a confidential source. The treaty, which covers other US-based social media platforms as well, would require the sharing in regard to investigations of serious crimes, such as terrorism and paedophilia, Bloomberg said.

Under the treaty, scheduled to be finalized in October, the US and UK won't investigate each other's citizens, and information obtained from British firms can't be used by the US in death penalty cases, Bloomberg reported.

So where does this leave users with end-to-end encryption... does it now fall away, was it was "broken" in the middle? Messages are either end-to-end encrypted or they are not. There is no partial end-to-end encryption. If you can silently add other parties to a conversation then it still can be broken open.

See https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-will-have-to-give-uk-police-access-to-encrypted-messages-report-says/

#whatsapp #facebook #encryption
#^Facebook will have to give UK police access to encrypted messages, report says

Under an upcoming treaty with the US, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media services will have to make data available, says a Bloomberg report.

source https://gadgeteer.co.za/social-media-platforms-based-us-including-facebook-and-whatsapp-will-be-forced-share-users