Brazilian judge orders WhatsApp blocked for 72 hours over encryption row

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in iPhone
As of Monday afternoon, WhatsApp Messenger will be blocked in Brazil for 72 hours over a dispute about access to encrypted data, according to reports.




Brazilian judge Marcel Montalvao ordered WhatsApp to hand over chat records related to a drug case, but the Facebook-owned company said it couldn't comply because the conversations are encrypted in a way it can't crack, TechCrunch noted. In response, the temporary ban is being put in effect through orders to telecoms companies.

WhatsApp is extremely popular in Brazil, with over 100 million users. In many cases people use the app to get around local cellphone rates, which can be inordinately expensive.

The Brazilian government has repeatedly clashed with WhatsApp over encryption. One short-lived ban was imposed in December, and in March, Montalvao even ordered the arrest of Facebook's Latin American VP, Diego Dzodan.

Telecom firms have previously lobbied the Brazilian government claiming that WhatsApp's VoIP service is illegal, and the conservative President of the Chamber of Deputies -- Eduardo Cunha -- is a former industry lobbyist who opposed Marco Civil, legislation nominally protecting websites against responsibility for third-party content and the sort of block now in effect. Outside of that sphere, the politician been accused of taking bribes, involvement in the Petrobras graft scandal, and laundering money through an evangelical Christian megachurch.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Outside of that sphere, the politician been accused of taking bribes, involvement in the Petrobras graft scandal, and laundering money through an evangelical Christian megachurch.

    In other words, he's just your average Latin American politician.


    potatoleeksoup
  • Reply 2 of 16
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    It's funny to watch the desperate, technologically illiterate, corrupt politicians throwing tantrums when they can't get their way.
    potatoleeksouptallest skil
  • Reply 3 of 16
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    And Rio was awarded the 2016 Olympics. I wonder how many athletes will be using encryption on their devices and subject to Brazilian's stupid ruling. It's as bad as living in the US with an equal number of under-informed politicians and government officials, led by the incompetent Comey.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    I suspect this will inspire more Brazilians to look into VPN apps.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    rob53 said:
    And Rio was awarded the 2016 Olympics. I wonder how many athletes will be using encryption on their devices and subject to Brazilian's stupid ruling. It's as bad as living in the US with an equal number of under-informed politicians and government officials, led by the incompetent Comey.
    I feel bad for the athletes, especially the ones that have to compete in the lagoon filled with raw sewage. 
  • Reply 6 of 16
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Maybe they should worry a little more about the impending

    CIVIL WAR

    and completely and utterly failed Olympics proceedings.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    Rename it to WhatsNotApp.  ;)
  • Reply 7 of 16
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Governments all over the world are freaking out over encryption. Whether totalitarian or democratic, capitalist or communist, governments have been stripped bare of any pretenses of being “of the people.” Encryption threatens their power over their citizens and they are lashing out. Under the guise of “protecting” their citizens they are revealing their true natures. All of them.
    bkkcanuckloquitur
  • Reply 9 of 16
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    This is precisely what our government doesn't understand about Apple.  Even if Apple created a back door, it still won't stop the countless apps like WhatsApp to be locked-down via encryption anyways.  I think it really shows the stupidity and illiteracy of the Brazilian judge as well.

    Blocking WhatsApp will just open more doors (pun intended) to other developers making more encrypted apps.  Good luck playing catch-up with that!
  • Reply 10 of 16
    mtbnutmtbnut Posts: 199member
    This judge should be out clearing Guanabara Bay in time for the Olympics. As it stands, Zika-riddled mosquitoes, body parts, and feces make up 98% of its contents. 
    edited May 2016
  • Reply 11 of 16
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    mtbnut said:
    As it stands, Zika-riddled mosquitoes, body parts, and feces make up 98% of its contents. 
    But that’s useful for the new Olympic categories. You know the ones: the shit-put, synchronized forensics, and the 100 meter DEET.
    edited May 2016
  • Reply 12 of 16
    latifbplatifbp Posts: 544member
    Maybe they should worry a little more about the impending

    CIVIL WAR

    and completely and utterly failed Olympics proceedings.

  • Reply 13 of 16
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member
    Maybe they should worry a little more about the impending

    CIVIL WAR


    Civil War is on track to handily beat Batman v Superman, so no need to worry about it...
    tallest skilsingularity
  • Reply 14 of 16
    I suspect this will inspire more Brazilians to look into VPN apps.
    There are 29 apps on today's top app list on the Brazillian AppStore, 7 of them are VPN related!

    Dumb judge, doesn't understand what encryption is (like most judges all over the world!).

    What is more astonishing is that he fails to see that, if anything, these dumbass court orders are to Facebook's ultimate benefit: 1) Facebook, doesn't make a penny (directly, at least) from WhatsApp messaging, so the shutdown will cut server costs for a few days, or give the great opportunity for a complete system maintenance. 2) It's free press for the brand, where Facebook comes to the side of the consumer against an idiotic, inefficient and corrupt government (which again, is a global problem, but here is a bit more pronounced).
  • Reply 15 of 16
    Dang, did some one person go through all the comments in this thread and "dislike" every one of them? I thought my previous comment and several others were perhaps not the most insightful or humorous, but fairly innocuous.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    studiomusicstudiomusic Posts: 653member
    A brazilian judge?
    That's a lot of judge.
    :#
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