WhatsApp Bending to Law Officials as Facebook Changes Tune

Facebook appears to be ready to give access to the WhatsApp application to intelligence and law enforcement officials, according to indications outlined in a Financial Times story.

The London-based newspaper reported that associates said Jan Koum, a co-founder and Facebook board member, resigned in the wake of pressure to open up the end-to-end encryption of the app. He told the mean

Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, with plans to protect user’s privacy, but pressure has been brought to bear on the company after its social media app gave sensitive information to Cambridge Analytica, which used it to influence American elections.

Graphic: Courtesy of SearchEngineJournal.com

Facebook does grant access to accounts on a case-by-case basis. The company held training sessions in Europe and Brazil to help police and judges understand how they could legally request information.

Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, left the company in November and became a #deleteFacebook advocate. Koum told The Associated Press on April 30, that he would spend more time “collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee.”

The Washington Post speculated that Koum was battling Facebook over privacy issues for WhatsApp users. Both founders fought against allowing ads on WhatsApp.

read more at FT.com