All you need to know about WhatsApp & Government stand off

Why WhatsApp is against traceability clause in the new IT Rules 2021

Hyderabad: Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is challenging the Indian government over the traceability clause in the new IT Rules 2021 in court.

Among the new rules is a clause that requires social media platforms to locate the first originator of the information, if required by the authorities.

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The case asks the Delhi High Court to declare that this particular clause is a violation of privacy rights in the Constitution.

The messaging platform is citing the 2017 Justice KS Puttaswamy Vs Union of India case to show that the provision goes against the fundamental right to privacy.

How does traceability work?

In a new post that went live on the WhatsApp website, the post details how the app deploys end-to-end encryption in their app since 2016, so that calls, messages, photos, videos, and voice notes to friends and family are only shared with the intended recipient and no one else. This means that not even WhatsApp can read or track the messages being sent.

Since, it can’t read the messages, finding the originator becomes hard, especially when they are forwarded many times.

Traceability, in effect, does the opposite as it means WhatsApp and other messaging services would now have to store and track information of every single message sent between a user and receiver, which violates the guarantee provided by end-to-end encryption.

What is WhatsApp’s stand on the clause?

The company has explained why traceability will not be supported by them. It also explains that the new clause would require them to re-engineer the app for the India market which is unlikely.

“Messaging services would have to keep giant databases of every message you send, or like a fingerprint of private messages,” the post reads.

Not only will such rules lead to human rights violations, it can put innocents at risk for sharing content that could potentially become problematic according to the government.

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