WhatsApp now supports messages with third-parties
Dr. Martin Shelton
March 14, 2024
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Under the new European Union law, the Digital Markets Act, Meta is required to allow interoperability between third-party chat software and its WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger apps. These tools offer end-to-end encryption using the Signal protocol, the strong encryption specifications pioneered by the Signal encrypted messaging app. According to Meta, this will be an opt-in feature to help mitigate against receipt of spam and scams from third-party integrations.
In its announcement, the company promoted the security benefits of the Signal protocol, preferring third parties use this protocol, but allowing other protocols besides Signal if they demonstrate they offer the same security guarantees. “To interoperate, third-party providers will sign an agreement with Messenger and/or WhatsApp and we’ll work together to enable interoperability,” Meta added. It is currently unclear if Signal will sign such an agreement. Read more here.
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Best,
Martin