Meta has offered details on how it intends to implement interoperability in WhatsApp and Messenger with third- party messaging services as the Digital Markets Act ( DMA ) went into effect in the European Union.
” This allows customers of third- group providers who choose to allow interoperability ( interop ) to send and receive messages with opted- in users of either Messenger or WhatsApp– both designated by the European Commission (EC ) as being required to independently give connectivity to third- group communication services”, Meta’s Dick Brouwer said.
DMA, which actually became legal on March 7, 2024, requires companies in guardian positions – Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance – to lock down on anti- dynamic practices from tech players, level the playing field, as well as compel them to start some of their services to competitors.
As part of its efforts to cooperate with the monument regulations, the social media large said it expects next- party companies to use the Signal Protocol, which is used in both WhatsApp and Messenger for finish- to- end encryption ( E2EE ).
The third- events are even required to offer the encrypted contacts into information stanzas in eXtensible Markup Language (XML). If the information contain media information, an encrypted version is saved by Meta clients from the second- party messaging servers using a Meta proxy service.
The business is even proposing what’s called a “plug- and- perform” model that allows next- party providers to link to its infrastructure for achieving interoperability.
” Taking the example of WhatsApp, next- group clients will link to WhatsApp machines using our method ( based on the Extensible Communications and Presence Protocol – XMPP )”, Brouwer said.
” The WhatsApp server will software with a second- party server over HTTP in order to help a variety of things including verifying next- party users and push notifications”.
However, third- party clients are mandated to execute a WhatsApp Enlistment API when opting into its network, alongside providing encrypted proof of their ownership of the next- party user- obvious identifier when connecting or a third- party user registers on WhatsApp or Messenger.
The complex structures also has provisions for a next- celebration provider to include a proxy or an intermediary between their client and the WhatsApp server to provide more information about the kinds of content their client can get from the WhatsApp server.
” The problem here is that WhatsApp had no longer have direct link to both clients and, as a result, would gain relationship level signals that are essential for keeping users protected from spam and scams such as TCP fingerprints”, Brouwer noted.
” This method also exposes all the talk information to the proxy site, which increases the likelihood that this information may get accidentally or intentionally leaked”.