In a shocking announcement, Google revealed that Hangouts is actually not as private as it is thought to be. In fact, cops can wiretap the app.
While people on iOS are likely to use Facetime for video chats and iMessage, Android users prefer Hangouts to handle the same workload, but apparently not in the same way.
While Apple's chat services use end-to-end encryption, the Internet search giant has confirmed that Hangouts is not as safe, or rather private as its users thought it to be. In a recent Reddit AMA, an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) employee urged a Googler to reveal just how secure Google's instant messaging and video chat platform is.
The line of questioning from the lawyer involved wiretapping (a common practice for government officials who want info on a user's dealings)
End-to-end encryption is critical when it comes to digital privacy. It means when a user send a message, it is encrypted from the time it is sent until the moment it is received. Basically no third parties can intercept the message, according to Business Insider.
Principle technologist for the ACLU, Christopher Soghoian asked Google's director for law enforcement and information security, Richard Salgado, why the search engine giant was not clearer about the ability to wiretrap Hangouts.
Salgado avoided the question saying that "there are legal authorities that allow the government to wiretrap communications."
He further added that Hangouts chats were encrypted in transit, according to reports on SlashGear.
This is an important admission because it shows that Hangouts can be used by the police to keep a check on the everyday texts and other content exchanged on the platform.
Motherboard turned to Google seeking clarification. Apparently, a Google spokesperson confirmed Hangouts does not use an end-to-end encryption, thus making wiretrapping entirely possible even when using Google's "off the record" feature (which just prevents chat from appearing in user's records).
No doubt, this seems to be a questionable policy, as it reveals huge privacy limitations for Hangouts. The search engine giant, in its recent transparency report, said that it received seven wiretrap requests for the first half of 2014. However, how many of those were for Hangouts were not known.
