epa05287194 (FILE) A file picture dated 07 April 2016 shows the logo of the messaging application WhatsApp on a smartphone in Taipei, Taiwan. For the second time in six months, a Brazilian judge on 02 May 2016 ordered a temporary shutdown of the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service. The ruling requires Brazilian mobile providers to block the service for 72 hours beginning at 1700 GMT on 02 May 2016. The order was issued in response to a motion from the Federal Police, who are seeking to force Facebook to comply with previous court orders requiring the company to reveal the content of texts sent via WhatsApp by the defendants in a drug trafficking case. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO *** Local Caption *** 52688299
The Facebook-owned mobile messaging service WhatsApp is vulnerable to interception, the Guardian newspaper reported, sparking concern over an app advertised as putting an emphasis on privacy.
The report said that WhatsApp messages could be read without its billion-plus users knowing due to a security backdoor in the way the company has implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol.
