WhatsApp urges the UK Government to review its online security bill, to respect end-to-end encryption of private messaging services and “guarantee the human right to privacy” since, otherwise, it implies an “unprecedented threat” to the security of British citizens and around the world.

The instant messaging platform warned about the dangers that the online security bill that the British Government is studying to apply could cause, due to the fact that it gives rise to forcing technology companies to break end-to-end encryption in services of private messaging.

This was stated by the person in charge of WhatsApp in Meta, Will Cathcart, through a post on the platform’s blog, which is also signed by the top executives of other instant messaging platforms such as Signal, Wire or Viber, among others.

According to WhatsApp, the users of these instant messaging applications, both individuals and companies, and even governments, face threats on a daily basis such as online scams, fraud or data theft through infections or ‘malware’ that is transferred through messages. To do this, malicious actors “regularly” challenge the security of messaging application infrastructures.

In this framework, the messaging platform ensures that end-to-end encryption is “one of the strongest possible defenses against these threats” and that, therefore, it should be protected and maintained at all times.

However, the company criticizes that the current wording of the law can be interpreted to eliminate encryption, causing institutions such as the UK communication regulator (OFCOM) to “force” the scanning of private messages “compromising the privacy of all users” and creating an “unprecedented” threat to the security of UK citizens and those they communicate with around the world.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: file)

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The Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Aviation of the Bahamas reported that the government decided to eliminate the health visa as an entry requirement to enter the country. Now visitors will only have to present a negative Covid-19 test carried out with a maximum of 72 hours to travel to the islands.

The Ministry indicated, in the statement, that the health and safety of all citizens, residents and visitors continue to be a priority, despite the relaxation of the protocols for entering the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investment and Aviation, Chester Cooper, stressed that the suspension of the health visa for travelers “is a signal to the international community that we are open for business.”

The new health regulations to enter the islands are:

• Vaccinated travelers, as well as children aged 2 to 11 years, may have a negative RT-PCR test or a rapid antigen test performed no more than three days (72 hours) before travel.
• Unvaccinated travelers age 12 and older must have a negative RT-PCR test performed no more than three days (72 hours) prior to travel.

In order to provide detailed information on the Covid-19 protocols to enter the Bahamas, the country’s authorities inhabited part of the website to publish the necessary information for visitors.

M. Rodríguez

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Source: periodicoviaje.com

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Moxie Marlinspike resigned as CEO of the application of Signal Messaging, so this post will be under the command of Brian Acton, one of the WhatsApp creators.

Marlinspike, founder of Signal, has been exercising as an application for almost a decade, and hopes that the departure of him can help the growth of service users, as he assured the APP manager in a statement.

“My goal has always been that Signal grows and hold beyond my participation, but four years ago that would not have been possible“, said Marlinspike, who wrote the code for Android, the servers and developed all the products of the APP .

At present, Signal has a team of 30 employees between developers, engineers, designers and other workers, which has reduced Marlinspike’s dependence and facilitates the departure of it.

“Now I feel very comfortable replacing myself as executive director thanks to the team we have, and I also think it is an important step to expand the success of Signal,” he said.

Marlinspike will leave his position during the next month of February, and announced that before the departure of him he will choose the successor of him and who currently seeks a profile that he directs the company in the coming years.

The current CEO leaves in its position interim with the Board of Founders, Acton, present in the Company since its creation, in 2017, and at the launch of the APP in 2018, which is committed to private and encrypted communications.

K. Tovar.

Source: Unocero

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The instant messaging application Signal is working on the implementation of a new payment function between users through cryptocurrencies.

To carry out these transactions the application would authorize the use of MobileCoin’s private cryptocurrency, this on the grounds that bitcoin “would have a privacy problem“, according to the company.

The P2P system for payments in Signal uses the MobileCoin wallet protocol and its mob currency. As expressed in an official publication, they do not have access to transactions between users or to the history or balance of each one. On the other hand, they promise that the user can withdraw their funds or transfer them to another service at any time.

Signal has been characterized for being an app based on the privacy and security of user data, so the use of traditional payments that lack this feature is ruled out.

At the moment Signal Payments is going to be tested in the UK in the beta version of the app. It is not clear when it will reach other countries or how it will evolve within the next few months. The company shows that in the future they could implement more cryptocurrencies, although there is no information on this aspect.

K. Tovar

Source: Xataka

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«During the first week of January, Telegram exceeded 500 million active monthly users. After this, it continued to grow: 25 million new users came to Telegram in the last 72 hours”, said Dúrov on his network channel.

“This is a significant increase over last year,” he continued, adding that Telegram had already had sudden waves of registrations during its “seven years of experience in protecting the privacy of its users“, but, “this time it is different”.

“People no longer trade their privacy for free services. He no longer wants to be taken hostage by technology monopolies”, added the billionaire, 36.

User growth, privacy and security assessment

Without mentioning its competition, it refers to WhatsApp, under fire from criticism since last Thursday after having asked its two billion subscribers to accept new conditions of use.

Those users who reject them will not be able to access their accounts as of February 8. In this way, the group seeks to make its platform profitable by allowing advertisers to contact their customers through WhatsApp, and even sell their products directly, as is already the case in India.

This announcement also had consequences for another messaging application, Signal, which since last week has been on the list of the most downloaded on the Apple Store and Google Play platforms in several countries.

Founded in 2013 by the brothers Pável and Nikolái Dúrov, creators before the popular Russian social network VKontakte, Telegram affirms that security is its priority and generally refuses to collaborate with the authorities, which has led to blockade attempts in some countries, on all in Russia.

G. Febres

With information from AFP and other agencies

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