Google tests end-to-end encryption for Android Messages app

If you use a phone with native Android system, your default messaging app will be Messages developed by Google. Currently, Google is testing the end-to-end encryption function of Rich Communication Service, and the beta version of Messages is already available.

This feature requires both the sender and the recipient to enable end-to-end encryption. In other words, both parties must install the beta version of the Messages app and enable end-to-end encryption before it can be used.

Over the past decade, after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the NSA's large-scale surveillance activities, end-to-end encryption technology has become the focus of attention. End-to-end encryption technology is an encrypted communication technology that goes one step further than general SSL. It allows data encryption and decryption to be completed at the communication end, effectively preventing third-party monitoring. Telecom operators or Wi-Fi network managers cannot obtain the content of the conversation.

Currently, many instant messaging applications have adopted or selectively adopted end-to-end encryption technology, such as Signal, Telegram, iMessage, LINE, WhatsApp, etc. However, even if end-to-end encryption technology is adopted, the functional design of some applications may cause users to be exposed to risks. For example, researchers named Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk found that in order to display the preview content of the URL sent by the user, LINE will send the URL sent by the user to the LINE server to generate a preview, "violating the purpose of end-to-end encryption." Similar situations also occur in applications such as Facebook Messenger and Instagram.