WhatsApp Balks at India's Demand To Break Encryption (venturebeat.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: As WhatsApp scrambles to figure out technology solutions to address some of the problems its service has inadvertently caused in developing markets, India's government has proposed one of its own: bring traceability to the platform so false information can be traced to its source. But WhatsApp indicated to VentureBeat over the weekend that complying with that request would undermine the service's core value of protecting user privacy. "We remain deeply committed to people's privacy and security, which is why we will continue to maintain end-to-end encryption for all of our users," the company said.

The request for traceability, which came from India's Ministry of Electronics & IT last week, was more than a suggestion. The Ministry said Facebook-owned WhatsApp would face legal actions if it failed to deliver. "When rumours and fake news get propagated by mischief mongers, the medium used for such propagation cannot evade responsibility and accountability. If they remain mute spectators they are liable to be treated as abettors and thereafter face consequent legal action," the government said. India is WhatsApp's largest market, with more than 250 million users. The country is struggling to contain the spread of fake news on digital platforms. Hoax messages and videos on the platform have incited multiple riots, costing more than two dozen lives in the country this year alone. Allowing message tracing, though, would likely undo the privacy and security that WhatsApp's one billion users worldwide expect from the service. Bringing traceability and accountability to WhatsApp would mean breaking end-to-end encryption on the platform, the company told VentureBeat.

Comments

side with the authorities here

[gravewax]

India has a serious problem at the moment with malicious rumours spread by social media where the intent is to get people injured or killed. tracability with a warrant I don't see as a breach of privacy or security as the person put it out to the world for everyone to see intentionally anyway, no where does it say you have a right to anonymously causes such mischief. All WhatsApp need to do is attach unique identifiers to messages when created so that when forwarded they can be traced back to the source, obviously the police already have the message so they don't need to break encryption or breach anyones privacy, what they need to know is who started the whole shitshow X that got Y people murdered.

Re: side with the authorities here

[Anonymous Coward]

you ill be disappointed to hear then many of the people injured or killed were foreigners not Indians. One of the common incidents is a small community is told the backpackers coming to their area are not backpackers but child kidnappers looking to steal children and sell them into slavery (another common problem in india). The village then pounces on the next unsuspecting foreigners that turn up and beat them to death, end result dead foreigners and poor people having their only bread winners sent to jail.

Re:side with the authorities here

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand how that sounded like a good idea in your head, trust me, it is a slippery slope. News and ad board campaigns to teach the public is a better solution imho.

you mean the solution they have been trying for months and has been completely unsuccessful? accountability is the only way to prevent the spread of these types of rumours, remembering most of these rumours target specific very real fears that many in remote indian communities have.

Re: side with the authorities here

[Anonymous Coward]

If an anonymous "tip off" with no evidence is enough to incite you to murder I have no sympathy

Re:side with the authorities here

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you actually read what the parent poster wrote?

If you gain the possibility to track villains, you gain the possibility to track dissidents and opponents as well.

It doesn't matter if you can *directly* see the message, just as it didn't matter with the text saying kidnappers are at large to steal your children. In both instances, once the cat is out of the bag, you could trace the message back to its origin. Whether it's a text of a scammer or of a whistleblower.

It's not difficult to comprehend, no?

Re:side with the authorities here

[MMC Monster]

On the one hand this looks both reasonable and quite easy to implement.

On the other hand ... what if this wasn't India. What if this was an oppressive regime which wants to arrest/kill dissenters?

If they have the message ID of one person, they can track everyone that person was in contact with, identifying their entire "cell".

All they would need is a court order.

Medium isn't the problem

[CaptQuark]

"When rumours and fake news get propagated by mischief mongers, the medium used for such propagation cannot evade responsibility and accountability.

So if the government mail service was used to send letters with fake news, the mail service would be accountable for any harm the misinformation caused? If you call someone on a cell and give them incorrect rumors that cause riots, the phone company is responsible for the content of the voice conversation? If you nail a flyer with misinformation to a power pole is the electric company accountable for "hosting" the message?

The communication method used by criminals can't be held responsible for the content of private and protected conversation if the service has no way to monitor every communication. If this was true, the cell phone providers would be just as culpable as WhatsApp for these false rumors.

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