- By Shivangi Sharma
- Sun, 12 Jan 2025 11:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The question of whether intelligence agencies like the CIA can access your private communications on platforms like WhatsApp has been a topic of significant debate and concern. In a recent discussion, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), addressed these concerns, shedding light on how end-to-end encryption works and its implications for privacy.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Saturday, made a surprising revelation about the limitations of end-to-end encryption in protecting WhatsApp messages. He stated that despite the strong encryption employed by the platform, government agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) can still access WhatsApp messages by physically accessing devices.
“And of course, it is always the ultimate physical part which is if they have access to your computer. You can usually just break in. That is why if the FBI arrests you, they take your phone and are probably going to be able to get in and see what is in there],” Zuckerberg said.
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WhatsApp Encryption Protects Messages In Transit, Not On Devices
Zuckerberg explained that while WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption ensures that Meta’s servers cannot view the content of messages, this encryption does not extend to data stored on a user’s device. This means that if a government agency were to gain physical access to a user’s phone, they could potentially access the messages stored locally.
Zuckerberg admitted on a podcast with Joe Rogan that the CIA reads WhatsApp messages, even though they are encrypted.
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He also complained that the Biden administration was pressuring Meta to censor content. pic.twitter.com/CMKskLMYW8
“The encryption on WhatsApp is designed to keep your messages private from us, from Meta, from the company, but it doesn’t protect against someone physically accessing your device,” Zuckerberg said. He emphasised that this is a limitation of current technology, as encryption can only secure communications while they are in transit and not when data is stored on a device.
“If someone has compromised your phone, they can see everything as it comes in. Having it encrypted and disappearing is a good standard of security and privacy,” he added.
End-to-end encryption, which protects messages from being intercepted during transmission, has become a standard for messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and others that prioritise user privacy.