March 8, 2024 at 08:57AM
Meta has revealed plans to enable interoperability in WhatsApp and Messenger with third-party messaging services in compliance with the Digital Markets Act in the EU. The Act obliges major tech companies to curb anti-competitive practices and open some services to competitors. Meta aims to implement interoperability and end-to-end encryption while addressing potential challenges.
From the provided meeting notes, it is clear that Meta is actively working to implement interoperability in WhatsApp and Messenger in compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that became enforceable on March 7, 2024. The company aims to enable users of third-party messaging services to send and receive messages with opted-in users of Messenger or WhatsApp.
To achieve this interoperability, Meta expects third-party providers to use the Signal Protocol for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and to package encrypted communications into message stanzas in eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Additionally, it proposes a “plug-and-play” model for third-party providers to connect to its infrastructure for achieving interoperability, notably using the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) in the case of WhatsApp.
However, the implementation of this interoperability raises concerns, as it requires third-party clients to execute a WhatsApp Enlistment API and provide cryptographic proof of ownership, as well as potentially expose chat metadata to proxy servers, posing risks of accidental or intentional data leaks.
Overall, Meta is actively taking steps to comply with the DMA and open its services to competitors, but the proposed implementation architecture raises technical and security challenges that need careful consideration.
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