No it's very different. Without further details, it sounds like it's possible for FB to switch keys and intercept all messages on everyone, all the time.
Re:There is no WhatsApp 'backdoor'
by occamrazor on Friday January 13, 2017 @08:04PM
(#13396167)
But the sender would receive at least a notification of key change by the recipient. It is up to them to confirm the validity of the key.
> Can the UX be improved to alert the smaller percentage of users that rely heavily ... Probably yes
Hell yes! Imagine jusr changing background color and the banner "somebody spies on you." Now it's something like some checkmark somewhere looks a bit different or whatever.. I'm still not sure what when...
I guess the point here is: Can there be a backdoor in whatsapp? Of course!
Is there a backdoor on Whatsapp as described on the guardian article? No.
Can the UX be improved to alert the smaller percentage of users that rely heavily on the encryption features when their communication is not being actively protected without disturbing the UX of the rest of the users? Probably yes,