Popular cross-platform messaging service Viber has announced that it will follow Apple’s example by embracing user privacy through the introduction of end-to-end encryption.
Viber revealed today that it will start rolling this out for all of its one-to-one and group conversations, whether that be video, voice, or text messages. According to a spokesperson for the company, the encryption update will be available to users worldwide within “several weeks,” although an exact date isn’t specified.
As with Apple’s stance on this topic, the result is that Viber will be unable to read any messages sent by its users, and will be equally unable to provide them to government agencies.
On top of this, Viber is adding a new feature called Hidden Chats, which lets users hide messages on their own handsets so that they can only be accessed using a four-digit PIN number.
The update follows the recent news that Viber’s Facebook-owned messaging service rival WhatsApp was adding end-to-end encryption for its entire 1 billion+ user base.
Source: Re/code
