British politicians want the U.K. government to have access to apps that use end-to-end encryption, after the London attacker apparently used WhatsApp before the attack.
- British investigators: London attacker used WhatsApp
- WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption
- Lawmakers want investigators to be able to access encrypted messages
Investigators said Khalid Masood sent a message in the popular messaging app just before the London attacks that can't be accessed by law enforcement because it was encrypted.
WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, and British Home Secretary Amber Rudd has taken serious issue with the company. She wants Facebook to allow investigators to access the attacker's account.
Rudd told the BBC in an interview:
"It used to be that people would steam-open envelopes or just listen in on phones when they wanted to find out what people were doing, legally, through warrants. But in this situation, we need to make sure that our intelligence services have the ability to get into situations like encrypted WhatsApp."
WhatsApp has said before that the end-to-end encryption makes it impossible for third parties to view its users' conversations. That includes the company itself.
So now, officials are hoping WhatsApp will create some sort of back door for future investigations like this one.
British government officials said they've invited tech companies to a meeting to talk about encrypted messaging on Thursday.
Facebook hasn't commented yet on the issue.