On: WhatsApp Just Switched on Encryption for a Billion People

[sickbeard]

So in theory they could help by intercepting these keys and handing them to authorities without actually decryption the data themselves

[jmilum → sickbeard]

the client generates a public/private key pair and only sends the public one to the whatsapp server. the server should never be able to access the private key. but unless the source of the client is available for review, who knows?