Should they succeed in their quest to undermine encryption, our public infrastructure and private lives will be rendered permanently unsafe. In the simplest terms, encryption is a method of protecting information, the primary way to keep digital communications safe. WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook, already uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE): in March the company announced its intention to incorporate E2EE into its other messaging apps – Facebook Messenger and Instagram – as well. To justify its opposition to encryption, the US government has, as is traditional, invoked the spectre of the web’s darkest forces. • Edward Snowden is former CIA officer and whistleblower, and author of Permanent Record.

Source: The Guardian October 15, 2019 05:00 UTC