The latest law built to master Big Tech aims to make all your favorite messaging apps work seamlessly together. Sounds great, right? Well, we have some bad news.
Every day, billions of messages are sent using end-to-end encryption. Millions of people use iMessage, WhatsApp and Signal to chat with friends, family and colleagues, and all these conversations are automatically protected by strong encryption. But it is not possible to send a message from one encrypted app to another. If you use Signal and your friends only use WhatsApp, someone has to compromise.
Under the European Union’s sweeping Digital Markets Act (DMA), which European lawmakers approved last week and is expected to be implemented this year, owners of messaging apps will be required to make them interoperable if another company asks them to do so. As a result, the biggest messaging platforms – including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage, which the DMA designates as gatekeepers – will have to open up to rivals.
“Users of small or large platforms will be able to exchange messages, send files or make video calls in messaging apps, thus giving them more choice,” the lawmakers said in a statement. According to the plans, Signal could ask to work with Messenger, for example. Or Meta could demand that WhatsApp become compatible with iMessage — a logistical challenge even if Meta and Apple weren’t actively feuding, but one EU lawmaker says is worth resolving.
Proponents of interoperability say the law will give users more choice and allow third-party customers to build additional features. And while MEP Andreas Schwab, the lead negotiator for the DMA, says politicians are not looking to weaken encryption, cryptography experts are concerned that the proposals will not be technically possible without compromising end-to-end encryption, potentially putting those billions messages are sent every day at risk.
Although end-to-end encryption has become seamless for people using messaging apps, no two apps implement identical encryption. WhatsApp uses a custom version of the Signal encryption protocol, for example, but users still can’t message each other within the apps. And while Apple’s iMessage is compatible with SMS, these standard text messages are not encrypted.
