On March 24th, the European Union announced a controversial decision on tech platforms. All massive tech companies with a market value of above €75 billion or over 45 million employees would have to provide services interoperable with smaller platforms.

This deal will presumably affect WhatsApp because of its encryption system. WhatsApp could have a mutual bond with apps like SMS, and SMS is a significantly less secure messaging system. It’s a kind of deal that would bother a lot of users.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposes tech giants called “gatekeepers” free up their services and allow smaller companies to compete. This protocol will lead to downloading apps outside the App Store and using different messaging apps for delivering the same messages. The DMA forces “gatekeepers” to decide if they will accept the deal until October this year.

What is end-to-end encryption?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has emphasized the significance of end-to-end encryption. Itis a communication system that provides privacy between users in a conversation. It keeps malicious entities, hackers, and scammers at bay, preventing them from intercepting messages, exposing IP addresses, or decrypting chats.

That’s how only senders and their recipients can read or modify their messages. With that, the users won’t get any external threats and frauds.

The third-party blocking feature secures encrypted data. It improves the overall experience between users and reduces security risks. End-to-end encryption improves privacy which is necessary for anyone who uses messaging services.

Major inconveniences

WhatsApp, which is a part of Meta, may face some hardships. Experts say that it will be challenging to maintain encryptions between the apps. There’s a chance that the encryption might become reduced or even obsolete. It’s not going to be good for billions of users messaging privately.

There’s not an easy way out concerning encryption maintenance in different apps. The apps can differ in many ways, so the level of encryption is not the same.

If you’re going to merge the two different encryptions, one app or the other will have to undergo massive changes. All these things together make encryption nearly impossible to maintain.

Merging multiple apps

Merging different services could cause stripping down some elements. Some apps could eliminate their features to bind with the other apps. It can lead to one app supporting an interoperable chatting system while others don’t.

The solution by the DMA would be to break down the end-to-end encryption chain and hook fraudsters that receive messages between two systems.

The thought of the possibility that the companies could make similar and easily-mergeable products wouldn’t be a great idea. The interoperability would expose users to experiencing inconveniences by another app.

Of course, if WhatsApp no longer offers end-to-end encryption, there are other options to consider. There are multiple options for using a secure instant messaging application with end-to-end encryption.

How can you secure messaging without WhatsApp’s encryption?

If you want to establish more secure protection, consider using a VPN. A Virtual Private Network is one of the top ways to ensure that your traffic is safe. This tool guarantees this by encrypting users’ traffic and masking IP addresses. Therefore, such protection mechanisms protect against traffic interception or manipulation.

We already mentioned the other option: use a different instant messaging app. Knowing that Facebook owns WhatsApp, you might consider switching anyway.

Regardless of its association, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging and calling applications. Of course, it is also possible that some users are unable to access it due to blocks on such services. Countries have seen end-to-end encryption as threatening. Thus, you can use a VPN to unblock WhatsApp or other apps and services.

Conclusion

Although the possibility of connecting messaging apps raises concerns, there is still a way to protect your privacy. While the encryption between interoperating apps might weaken, a VPN can help you establish and maintain utmost data privacy and security.

It will keep your files, messages, voice chats, and video calls safe from potential fraudsters and scammers. With a reliable VPN in your corner, you can use WhatsApp worry-free and continue enjoying all its features for convenient conversations.

If you are not using an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, it is time to start! They are much better at keeping your conversations private. Additionally, you do not want your communications to be exploited for ads or other purposes.