Tracing WhatsApp messages conceivable without tempering encryption: report

While social messaging application WhatsApp assures absolute encryption, the latest reports reveal that traceability of its messages is most certainly possible.

AV. Kamakoti, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras was cited by a DNA report as stepping forth to aid India in battling fake news by tracing WhatsApp messages, by stating that the end-to-end encryption without getting diluted can still enable messages to be traced while also not breaching the users’ privacy.

“When a message is sent from WhatsApp, the identity of the originator can also be revealed along with the message. So the message and the identity of the creator can be seen only by the recipient. When that recipient forwards the message, his/her identity can be revealed to the next recipient,” he said.

“In this way, you do not need to break end-to-end encryption and infringe the privacy of anyone and yet make the messages traceable when the investigating agencies want to find out. And this is what we have projected to WhatsApp,” he added.

India had prompted its campaign of WhatsApp message traceability after numerous cases of lynching had come afloat the previous year which were linked to rumors spread through the application.