On Nov 19, 2014 1:49 PM, "Pirate Praveen" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Today we’re excited to publicly announce a partnership with WhatsApp, > the most popular messaging app in the world, to incorporate the > TextSecure protocol into their clients and provide end-to-end encryption > for their users by default.
Delighted. The discussion at the end centers around whether some sneaky code can be inserted (or already exists) in the app (proprietary code) that enables the decoded message to be read by some intercept. To my mind, it is probably possible to send off a message via some third party app that can be compared with the same message sent via Whatsapp to verify for any extra baggage. The possibility alone makes the likelihood of such a botcode dim. > > https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp/ > > This is really a great news for all privacy advocates. I never thought > this could happen. I suppose they are forced to respond to the public > demand for better privacy. I wish there was such a demand. Most people are blissfully unaware of the potential (in many cases around the world, all too real) risks of communication through digital media. The challenges of unbridled commerce with hawk-dominated democracy in nation after nation means the citizenry really don't know what to expect, but both Wikileaks and Snowden have demonstrated that it's probably not good. Such initiatives need to be applauded. If communication media vendors sense that privacy enhancement is a market need (much like Jobs deciding that x or y feature of iPads was a market need even before launching the product), it is a bold step to protect users even before they wake up. To go further, it becomes the basis for anyone writing code to decide whether she wants to be responsible for some intrusive thing or the other to enter the realm of human intercourse. This could happen as an initiative from employees, employers or independent vendors, even before it appeared as a pushback from the market. Seen in that light, it is always better to meet a demand before it is expressed by walking out the door. The people who today are successful in marketing their communication media goes and services need not be viewed in a negative light, even if they persist in building them on proprietary code. That change will, imho, be a feature or aspect of recognizing human dignity, which we see in many ways, even really super duper paying jobs dispense with oftentimes, never mind the hoi polloi, and not only in the corporate world. The fact is, these vendors have done a good job in connecting people, and need to do a better job in connecting people responsibly. Of course, privacy protection and open code practices may be chicken and egg, but the former builds on grabbing an opportunity, loads of synergy. Slogging against such entrenched forces is more like meeting a threat. Vickram > > > _______________________________________________ > network mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in >
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