WhatsApp Third Party Chats Feature to Maintain End to End Encryption But Take More Time to Release All Details

Meta on Wednesday reported that WhatsApp will take some more time to bring third-party chat features to users. As per the European Union’s (EU) Digital Market Act (DMA), which went live on March 6, the platform is required to offer messaging interoperability in personal conversations in the region within three months. However, citing limitations in implementing end-to-end encryption (E2EE) architecture for third-party providers, Meta said it would take longer than the time given to the messaging platform. The company also said that features such as group chats as well as audio and video calling would be possible only after 2024.

One Post In a statement, Meta outlined the workings of its interoperability features, plans to work with other messaging platforms and the limitations it faces, saying the company needs more time than it has been given right now. The tech giant said it has been building a security and privacy-focused process for interoperability for nearly two years and has consulted with the European Commission.

According to the social media company, technical challenges with interoperability are the main reason for the delay. However, the company aims to enable personal text messaging, voice messages, as well as sharing of photos, videos and other stored files between end users by the end of the year. However, Meta has not given any timeline. Meta says that implementing group chat and calling features remains in its plans.

To make interoperability with WhatsApp possible, third-party providers will need to sign an agreement to enable third-party chats. Highlighting the technicalities, the post explained that WhatsApp uses the Noise protocol framework to encrypt all data between end users and servers. As a part of the protocol, third-party providers will need to do something the company calls the ‘Noise handshake’, which is to pass a payload to the server along with a JWT token.

At the same time, Meta also said that while it will take responsibility for E2EE as long as the data is in WhatsApp’s servers and in transit, it cannot ensure it once the data is received by a third-party client.