US authorities want access to messages from users in Messenger

The US authorities are trying to force Facebook to provide the encryption codes of their Messenger application so that law enforcement officers can listen in on voice conversations of criminal suspects. The agency reports Reuters with reference to unnamed sources.

Фото: Depositphotos

In this regard, the question again arose whether IT companies should modify their products in order to provide the authorities with an opportunity to "wiretap".

Three people who were aware of the progress of the case said that a closed process is now taking place in one of the federal California courts, during which Facebook is protesting the company’s accusation of contempt of court for refusing to provide access to messages in Messenger at the request of the authorities .

Facebook and the Ministry of Justice declined to comment.

One source said that the issue of wiretapping Messenger arose in Fresno, California, as part of an investigation into gangster MS-13.

US President Donald Trump often uses the example of a gang as evidence that the US has a weak immigration policy, and as a reason for attacking the so-called “shelter” laws, which among other things prohibit police to detain people due to their violation of US immigration laws.

Trump called the gang members "animals" when a Fresno sheriff complained that California laws restrict his ability to work with federal immigration agents who are searching for gang members.

If the court satisfies this requirement of the authorities, a similar argument can also be applied to other companies that provide message encryption services, such as Signal or WhatsApp.

Similar problems have already arisen in 2016, when the FBI demanded that Apple give access to the iPhone, which belonged to the murdered “Islamic State” supporter from San Bernardino, California.

Apple insisted that the government could not force the company to change the software in order to gain access to private data. The FBI was able to access the phone through contractors.

Facebook says in court that voice messages sent through Messenger are fully encrypted, meaning that only two parties - the conversation partners - have access to the conversation.

Plain text messages from Facebook, Gmail, and other Alphabet Inc services are decrypted by service providers, making them available to judicial authorities.

Facebook says the company can fulfill a government request only by rewriting the code and removing the encryption that all its users rely on.

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