As the nation watches the FBI battle Apple in court over access to a terrorist's iPhone data, a conflict with another Silicon Valley company simmers in the background.
With over a billion users, the Facebook-owned mobile app
WhatsApp is one of the world's largest messaging platforms and allows users to send text messages and make phone calls abroad without incurring the international data costs associated with traditional text and voice communication. Similar to Telegram, an app
popular with ISIS members, WhatsApp offers
end-to-end encrypted text messaging and, according to the
Guardian, will in the coming weeks be offering encrypted voice and group messaging.
At present, the Department of Justice is unsure how to proceed in an ongoing criminal investigation in which a federal judge ordered a wiretap, as the department is unable to get access the ordered data thanks to WhatsApp's encryption.