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Digital Planet: WhatsApp v Indian government

Factual: Science & Nature

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01/06/2021 GMT

WhatsApp v Indian government

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, WhatsApp v Indian government

India wants to break WhatsApp’s encryption

WhatsApp against Indian government; digitally replacing an actor in Army of the Dead; Earswitch technology

India has brought in stringent new laws that WhatsApp says will force it to break its end-to-end encryption. In a social media chat that’s been forwarded by multiple users, the new rules require the person who originated and shared that message, to be traced. And that’s a big problem for WhatsApp, a service that’s built itself around privacy. Gareth talks to Mishi Choudhary of the Software Freedom Law Centre about the regulations and the potential impact beyond India.

After the new zombie heist film, Army of the Dead, had wrapped, the lead actor, Chris D’Elia, who played the part of an all-action helicopter pilot, was digitally removed from the movie, after he found himself the subject of serious allegations, which he denies. Edited in was Tig Notaro, another actor. Maxim Thompson explains how this remarkable cut and paste job was done.

There’s a new way of driving a games controller, answering a phone or reading a text, using the inside of your ear. It works because many of us, without even realising it, can control a tiny muscle in our ear called the tensor timpani. Roland Pease has been trying out this prototype technology with Nick Gompertz, director of Earswitch



(Image: An advertisement from WhatsApp seen in a newspaper at a stall in New Delhi. Credit: Sajjad Hussain /AFP via Getty Images)



The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix
Producer: Deborah Cohen

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