Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by ComputerGuru on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:28AM
(#21100851)
I’m much more interested in the wording of “in the ordinary course,” which I don’t think is just a quirk of the language and I believe it is an indication that certain differing measures can take place after being compelled to provide information.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by likpok on Saturday September 28, 2019 @01:12PM
(#21101523)
The case law references records kept “in the ordinary course of business”. Such records are admissible, other records are not (being hearsay).
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by ethbro on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:35AM
(#21100898)
At minimum, it seems the kind of thing a competent lawyer would require.
Even if FB / WhatsApp doesn't currently have such a capability, there's no legal guarantee they couldn't be compelled to add it, thereby putting them in conflict with language that didn't include that clause.
Afaik, case law is murky over whether creating new code qualifies as speech (illegal to compel) or facilitating legally-approved wiretapping (legal and required).
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by smudgymcscmudge on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:25AM
(#21100824)
Did you notice the article doesn't say anything about decrypting the messages? It just says they have to turn over encrypted messages.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by squarefoot on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:36AM
(#21100907)
The question should be why on Earth would they ask access to encrypted messages if they couldn't already decrypt them, or be able to do that soon.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by aianus on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:44AM
(#21100980)
You can infer a lot of information from the metadata, like the volume and timing of messages.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by IshKebab on Saturday September 28, 2019 @12:57PM
(#21101429)
They're after the metadata. Who contacted who, and how often.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by akaryocyte on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:29AM
(#21100862)
The phrase "In the ordinary course of providing our service" seems to imply that in some circumstances they do/can store messages?
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by contravariant on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:55AM
(#21101060)
Probably not deliberately, but something can always go wrong, which is probably why they added an additional clause that messages older than 30 days should be deleted.
More interesting is what happens if someone gets a new phone. In that case (if I understood correctly) they might ask for the sender to resend the messages with a different key. If they really are forced to add a backdoor then that's where I would fit in a MITM attack, as it is limited in scale and detectable when used excessively.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by PeterStuer on Saturday September 28, 2019 @12:36PM
(#21101304)
Whatsapp is under the obligation to comply with lawful intercept regulation wherever they operate, just the same as any other communications platform out there. and no, Whatsapp is not some 'small indie company that just happens to not have been noticed'.
Pretending and using obfuscated language to lead the reader to believe otherwise is disingenuous.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by stewbrew on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:34AM
(#21100891)
I doubt they would have to change a single word to allow a third party (yet another recipient) to decrypt any message ever sent over this service.
Re:Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K.?
by em3rgent0rdr on Saturday September 28, 2019 @11:26AM
(#21100837)
I doubt the politicians who signed this treaty actually understand this technology.
>WhatsApp has no ability to see the content of messages or listen to calls on WhatsApp. That’s because the encryption and decryption of messages sent on WhatsApp occurs entirely on your device. Before a message ever leaves your device, it's secured with a cryptographic lock, and only the recipient has the keys.[...]
>A search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedures upon a showing of probable cause is required to compel the disclosure of the stored contents of any account, which may include "about" information, profile photos, group information and address book, if available. In the ordinary course of providing our service, WhatsApp does not store messages once they are delivered or transaction logs of such delivered messages, and undelivered messages are deleted from our servers after 30 days. WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption for our services, which is always activated
Very interested to see what their response is and if their promise holds that they do not have technical access to content but merely to account information.