Fingerprint Your Messages On Whatsapp For Traceability
Jun 19, 2019 By Admin
Government of India has asked WhatsApp to have digital fingerprint policy on every message sent on its platform to ensure the traceability of the content shared on Whatsapp. According to Government, WhatsApp should be able to identify where a message originated from and how many people have read and forwarded it.
The government has asked for traceability of WhatsApp messages after misinformation and rumors around child kidnappings on the platform led to a spate of lynching across India in 2018. Fingerprinting WhatsApp messages will help find the originator of the message.
But what about entry-level smartphone segment which doesn’t have the fingerprint ability? This remains to be addressed in this high-tech debate.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging applications in India, has maintained that its end-to-end encryption does not allow for traceability. Law enforcement officials seeking to identify the origin of messages that cause public unrest or spread sexual abuse videos have long complained that the metadata (name, display image and number of people on chat groups) provided by WhatsApp is not sufficient to catch the perpetrators.
The authorities don’t want to read messages but when they see a problematic message, WhatsApp should be able to help them trace the sender. “They have to find a way; it is technically possible, government argues.
WhatsApp currently does not store data on messages. However, if it accepts government’s demand, it will need to redesign its entire architecture. This may seem simple, but it is not so easy to do with many barriers to cross technically.
Published by : RAKESH KANWAR & CO.
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