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A comment on Google Is Testing End-to-End Encryption in Android Messages. Parent comment

Re:Google Is Testing End-to-End Encryption in Android Messages by username90 on Monday November 23, 2020 @06:33AM (#25185665)
> Whatsapp can do all of that right now.

No it can't, this is about sending end to end encrypted messages via the phone network and not the internet. Phone networks have much better coverage than internet providers. Sending E2E encrypted messages via internet is already possible on Google services.

Edit: Or Google might have shut those services down. Anyway, this isn't about a chat app but making e2e the new standard for SMS.

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Re:Google Is Testing End-to-End Encryption in Android Messages by corty on Monday November 23, 2020 @07:59AM (#25186288)
RCS uses the phone network data channel. So more internet than phone in that aspect, it's not at all like SMS hiding in the free space in beacon frames. Therefore coverage won't be any better. The only possible minimal difference would be using authentication via SIM/carrier instead of the Whatsapp method of sending a confirmation code via SMS/call. But that is a very minor difference.
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