The new laws of the European Union (EU) have designated WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger as “gatekeeper” services. This means that they will have to be interoperable with other messaging applications, and now we have a better idea of how it will work.
The engineering director of WhatsApp, Dick Brouwer, has explained how messaging between applications will work in an interview with Wired. To begin with, Brouwer states that cross-app compatibility will be optional.
The Meta employee explained why interoperable WhatsApp chats will not be enabled by default: “I can choose whether I want to participate or not in being open to exchanging messages with third parties. This is important because it could be a major source of spam and scams.”
An option that opens possibilities, but also insecurities?
WhatsApp users who activate cross-app messaging will see a separate “third-party chats” inbox at the top of their chat menu.
Brouwer reasoned that a separate inbox was necessary because WhatsApp cannot promise the same level of security and privacy as native messages.
Messaging applications that want to be interoperable with WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger will have to sign an agreement with Meta and comply with the company’s conditions.
In addition, Brouwer states that Meta would like other applications to use the Signal encryption protocol, in line with its own applications. He adds that third-party apps will have to connect to WhatsApp servers in order for you to receive messages from them.
