WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK law, says chief

Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by jcarrano on Thursday March 09, 2023 @01:20PM (#35084674)

This could be very good for Meta, just get the government to never exercise the law on you and to do it instead on smaller competitors that may threaten you.

Now everyone wanting to make a communications app (or anything implementing that functionality) is risking an expensive lawsuit on the UK. Meta too, but they have the bucks and influence to weather it.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by ttt3ts on Thursday March 09, 2023 @03:29PM (#35086246)

Just block the UK and make everyone use a VPN this is already the case with age verification for adult content.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by tiernano on Thursday March 09, 2023 @04:02PM (#35086666)

VPN wouldn't work. Whatsapp is tied to a mobile number so they would just blacklist all +44 numbers. No matter where you are, even if your an expat, it won't work....

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by unxdfa on Thursday March 09, 2023 @04:26PM (#35086946)

This instantly puts me off WhatsApp from a reliability perspective. Your identity needs to be decoupled from something someone else controls.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by ttt3ts on Thursday March 09, 2023 @04:43PM (#35087162)

I don't care what Meta does they are big enough to solve the issue.

I was talking about smaller messaging apps that can't just refuse to comply.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by joseftexas on Thursday March 09, 2023 @07:48PM (#35089055)

Meta has multiple server relay nodes in EU. Just shutfown the relay nodes in UK and geolocation block all incoming connections to EU servers coming from UK IP address. The phone number is just at user registration. Back-end they know. Heck, my whatsapp even route my voice call info (likely they transcribe and send to FB adverts processing via chatGPT-like solution) and flooded my FB with related ads derived from my voice call keywords.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by anticensor on Friday March 10, 2023 @02:56AM (#35091698)

What if I enter +44 118 999 88199 9119 725 3 as my phone number?

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by mrtksn on Friday March 10, 2023 @04:40AM (#35092420)

If they really don't want to serve the UK market, then they can block +44 but given the prevalence of WhatsApp in UK and rest of the world(except for the US), I can see how people can start shipping EU SIMs to UK for WhatsApp use or create SIM SMS relay service with foreign numbers.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by CommanderData on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:37PM (#35088448)

Vpn is a short term solution and is like digging your head in the sand.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by variant on Thursday March 09, 2023 @04:20PM (#35086887)

This is why big companies love regulation, and why regulation - even when well-intentioned - can be such a disruptive force to market signals.

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Re:WhatsApp would not remove end-to-end encryption for UK la... by sakagami0 on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:17PM (#35087592)

Yup, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

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