Viber Joins WhatsApp, Apple With End-to-End Encryption

Chalk up another victory for user privacy.

Viber announced Tuesday that it will begin rolling out end-to-end encryption for all of its one-to-one and group conversations, including video, voice and text messages. That means the company won’t be able to read any of its user messages, and neither will government agencies that come calling.

Viber is even taking security a step further with a new feature called Hidden Chats. While encrypted messages can’t be deciphered by Viber, they do still exist on both the sender’s and receiver’s phone. Hidden chats allows users to hide those messages so that they can only be accessed with a four-digit PIN number.

Viber is the latest messaging app to strengthen its security features in the wake of Apple’s long battle with the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers. Facebook-owned WhatsApp rolled out end-to-end encryption for all its users earlier this month. It’s a trend you’ll continue to see.

The new encryption update will roll out to users worldwide over “several weeks,” a spokesperson said.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via