Encrypted messaging apps avoids surveillance

In response to the crackdown, South Koreans have
voted with their feet, heading en masse to encrypted
chat programs hosted outside the country,
particularly an app called Telegram known for its
encryption features . Based in Germany, Telegram reports
roughly 1.5 million new South Korean users have signed
up in the past seven days, giving the app more than 50
million users worldwide. Telegram's Markus Ra says it's
not the only country where government controls have
made Telegram an attractive option. "People frequently
come to Telegram looking for extra security — some of
them from countries with censorship issues," Ra says.
"What really makes us happy is that the users stay when
the privacy scandals have died away."
Telegram offers an option for "secret chats" that use
end-to-end encryption, which means that the company
facilitates key exchange but doesn't hold the keys itself
and can't decrypt any of the messages. Created by
Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov, the app’s
offshore location makes legal compulsion much more
difficult for South Korean prosecutors. Telegram’s South
Korean user base is still just a fraction of Kakao's 35
million users — the vast majority of cell-phone owners
in South Korea — but the rapid growth shows how much
privacy features can pay off in the face of high-profile
censorship.
Kakao Talk has struggled to provide the same privacy
promises. Since the crackdown was announced, the
company has faced rumors that prosecutors are reading
chats in real-time, even though the company insists
such a setup would be technically impossible. On
Thursday, the company announced it would curtail its
storage practices, only keeping messages for three days
after they're sent, rather than a full week. Still, since
Kakao is based in Korea, it can only push back so far.
The company is obligated to comply with court orders
under South Korean law, turning over messaging data as
prosecutors demand it.
But while companies compete for user privacy,
government pushback isn't unique to South Korea. When
Apple took a step towards Telegram-esque end-to-end
encryption last month, the FBI pushed back immediately ,
claiming the features would aid criminals and hinder
legitimate warrants. Apple’s supporters responded
simply that, after Snowden, the company was giving its
users what it wanted. After Telegram’s sudden rise, it’s
a more convincing argument than ever.