Facebook, one of the largest tech companies in the world, is currently fighting off the US Government according to a report from Reuters. In a request for information shared between Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members, the US government is attempting to force the company to break the encryption used for voice calls. This would, in effect, allow the US Government to wiretap Facebook Messenger calls and listen in at will to any phone call made on the service. The court case is currently proceeding under seal, meaning no filings are being made public.
According to the three people briefed on the case, Facebook is heavily contesting the court case. The US Government is currently looking to hold Facebook in contempt of court for refusing to carry out the request that would see Facebook break the end-to-end encryption used in voice and video calls through their messaging service. Both the US Department of Justice and Facebook declined to comment to Reuters.
Impacts of the ruling, if the US Government can force the company to break its encryption, are unclear. It could potentially create a precedence which would suggest that the US Government can force any messaging service to provide access to encrypted content. That would include alternative applications such as Signal and Facebook-owned WhatsApp. While Facebook Messenger messages are decrypted server-side for analysis and ad targetting, calls are end-to-end encrypted. That is, only two parties are privy to the contents of the call. Governments can still request access to messages via court orders, seeing as those are decrypted.
This isn’t the first time that the US Government has tried to request a company open up its encryption either. Back in 2016, the FBI attempted to force Apple to unlock an iPhone in order to view the information stored on the device belonging to a known Islamic State sympathizer. The case was dropped once the FBI enlisted the help of a private contractor and gained access to the device. Apple was not forced to break its encryption either. Whether Facebook can stand its ground, however, is yet to be seen. While a federal appeals court did rule in 2006 that eavesdropping laws pertained to large VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers, that has not been extended to chat, gaming or other internet services too. As such, it may be that Facebook Messenger does not fall under such laws and therefore the company cannot be forced to break their own encryption.
Either way, it’s a difficult case which sets precedence for the future going forward. We’ll personally be keeping a close eye on it.
Source: Reuters
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