End-to-end encryption is the technology that keeps messages sent on WhatsApp, iMessage and other secure platforms. It is also becoming a major battleground in deciding the future of the internet.

On one side stands many of the most powerful people in the UK and US governments. On the other is some of the largest technology companies in the world.


And between them is the fight for whether communications over the internet should be able to be read by security services and the police, and whether it is worth weakening the protections that keep them private to do so.

The debate has been revived by senior politicians on either side of the Atlantic. Most recently, new home secretary Priti Patel suggested that encryption on Facebook-owned platforms was hindering investigations by law enforcement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/encryption-whatsapp-facebook-apple-imessage-priti-patel-william-barr-a9030046.html