Govt reaffirms need for tracing WhatsApp messages after phone-hacking row

The government will not show any leniency towards Facebook-owned WhatsApp on ensuring transparency and traceability of content shared on the social media platform, officials have told Moneycontrol.

The development comes days after the government sought an explanation from WhatsApp about the hacking of phones of some Indian users by Pegasus, a malware designed by an Israeli surveillance firm.

“There has been a lot of back and forth between the government and Facebook on the traceability front. After the Pegasus privacy breach, it becomes even more important to go after traceability,” said an official.

The news of phone hacking came to light after WhatsApp last week sued the Israeli firm NSO in the US, accusing it of helping governments break into the phones of around 1,400 users across the world, including social activists, diplomats, senior government officials, journalists and dissidents.

The social media giant has alleged that the hacking platform exploited a flaw in WhatsApp servers to help clients break into phones, media reports have said.

The number of compromised Indian users is estimated to be 121.

NSO has denied the allegations.

Officials said that the government should be able to know where a message originated if the need arises. Knowing the identity of the sender was vital to combating terrorism and other crimes, including the kidnapping of children and the sharing of child pornography.

“The government should also be able to know who sent the messages and how many people read it so that the impact can be measured,” one of the officials said.

India is the biggest market for WhatsApp with 400 million users. The social media giant has said it can’t trace messages because of its end-to-end encryption technology, which doesn’t even allow it to read messages. Only the sender and the recipient can see the content.

“It won’t require WhatsApp to completely alter their technology. They can do it with minor tweaks or fingerprinting of messages,” said a government source.

“Digital fingerprinting of every message is the best way to keep track. This is not just important for India, it is important for governments across the world.”

WhatsApp says it informed the government about the breach twice, in May and September. The government says the information was vague, incomplete and WhatsApp never said how many people were affected or who they were.

The information technology ministry asked WhatsApp to submit a detailed explanation of the attack, which officials said the company did on Sunday. “The next course of action will be taken after a detailed review of WhatsApp’s responses,” said a source.

Even before accusations of phone hacking surfaced, WhatsApp had been facing increased scrutiny over the way it functions.

On October 22, the Supreme Court transferred to itself a number of petitions filed in various courts on the issue of traceability of messages exchanged on the social media platform. The hearing begins in January 2020.