Heena Sharma Blog

  Taking a cue from its rival WhatsApp , the fast-growing encrypted messaging app Signal has announced to let users send money in cryptocurrency to friends and relatives, as it tests a new peer-to-peer payments system in the beta version of its app. Called Signal Payments, the new feature that is available in the UK first will currently support a privacy-focused payments network called Mobile Coin, which has its own currency, MOB. "As always, our goal is to keep your data in your hands rather than ours; Mobile Coin’s design means Signal does not have access to your balance, full transaction history, or funds," said Jun Harada, Signal's head of growth and communication. "You can also transfer your funds at any time if you want to switch to another app or service," he said in a statement late on Tuesday. The company said it aims payments in Signal to be fast, private, and work well on mobile devices. Read More

  Homegrown instant messaging app Hike Messenger , later known as Hike Sticker Chat, has been officially shut down. The company's chief executive officer Kavin Bharti Mittal announced the shutdown of its operations recently. "Today we are announcing that we will be sunsetting StickerChat in Jan'21. We thank you all for giving us your trust. We wouldn't be here without you. All your data will be available to download in the app," Mittal tweeted. Kavin Mittal is the son of India's second largest telco Bharti Airtel's founder and chairman Sunil Mittal. The app has been removed from Playstore and Apple's App store. Users can download their data inside the application. However, the announcement does not mean an end to other apps in development by the company. Read More

Facebook has clearly told US Attorney General William Barr that the social networking giant will neither remove encryption from its messaging apps nor will provide law enforcement agencies access to its encrypted services. "As a company that supports 2.7 billion users around the world, it is our responsibility to use the very best technology available to protect their privacy. Encrypted messaging is the leading form of online communication and the vast majority of the billions of online messages that are sent daily, including on WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal, are already protected with end-to-end encryption," said WhatsApp head Will Cathcart and Facebook Messenger's chief Stan Chudnovsky, in a letter to Barr on Tuesday. "The 'backdoor' access you are demanding for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers and repressive regimes, creating a way for them to enter our systems and leaving every person on our platforms more vulnerable to re