An official document reveals that the FBI can request and have access to messages, history and backup in the cloud; iMessage, WhatsApp and a total of 9 messaging platforms.
The information about the FBI’s access to the messaging apps was revealed thanks to a request that Property of the People (a government transparency company) filed with the authorities to know the procedures to access the encrypted data.
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The document was written on January 7, 2021 by the Science and Technology Branch and the Operational Technology Division of the agency; And basically, it is an internal guide on how the FBI can request data from nine companies and their services: iMessage, Line, Signal, Telegram, Apple’s Threema, Viber, Tencent’s WeChat, Meta’s WhatsApp, and Wickr.
According to the document, the FBI can have “limited” access to iMessages and, with a search warrant, can “back up a target device” and, “if the target uses iCloud backup, they can also purchase iCloud iMessages“can be read in the document.
Secondly, WhatsApp can provide near real-time data on a user’s messaging habits, every 15 minutes. And the FBI You also have access to metadata, as it turns out to be a key way to access information that can stop crime without breaking end-to-end encryption.
The document shows that Apple provides basic information about its users and the record of the last 25 days of activity in iMessage. But with a court order, the FBI can have full access to sent and received messages that remain stored in iCloud.
Other more private applications deliver less information to the FBI. Signal will only provide the date and time someone signed up for the app, and the last login time, while Wickr it will only deliver basic information about the device.
That means that “the most popular encrypted messaging applications, iMessage and WhatsApp are also the most permissiveMallory Knodel, chief technology officer for the Center for Democracy and Technology, told Rolling Stone, who first reported on the document.
So far the The FBI and Apple have not commented on the matter.