"Delhi Police will look into end-to-end encrypted calls of active mobile numbers near the Israel Embassy" while investigating a low-intensity blast in the area on December 26, 2023, reported Outlook India, based on a PTI wire. Now, the reason we are sceptical about this news is because previously, experts in conversation with MediaNama stated that end-to-end encryption calls and their content cannot be tracked, although metadata of these calls can be accessed by law enforcement services. What is end-to-end encryption? End-to-end or E2E encryption is a communication method that prevents third-parties from accessing data while it's transferred from one end user to another. The data is encrypted on the sender's system or device and only the recipient is able to decrypt it. This method can be used for different forms of online communication, including email, messaging and voice calls to ensure privacy and security. Talking about such E2E calls like WhatsApp calls, Anand Raje, co-founder of India Internet Foundation who has also worked with law enforcement for tackling cybercrime, told MediaNama in November, “WhatsApp calls are end-to-end encrypted, so they cannot be tracked. The police can only reach out to WhatsApp for data if the phone number is linked to a WhatsApp account. There are different methodologies, approaches that the police would employ depending on the requirement of the case, but it’s not like you can surveil an entire region.” Even the senior official speaking to PTI agreed that it is “hard to trace end-to-end encrypted calls.” They clarified that…
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Here’s why we’re not convinced Delhi Police is checking end-to-end encrypted calls
While our exploration of police’s use of metadata has revealed that end-to-end encryption calls cannot be tracked by the state police, it is important to note that such requests can be initiated by central agencies.
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