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WhatsApp spies on users’ phones . in this country!

US federal agencies are using a 35-year-old surveillance law to secretly track WhatsApp users with no explanation of why and without knowing who they are targeting.

This comes after a government monitoring note in Ohio revealed last November that DEA investigators had asked Facebook-owned WhatsApp to track down 7 users. in China and Macau.

The note revealed that the DEA did not know the identity of any of the targets, but asked WhatsApp to monitor the IP addresses and numbers contacted by the target users, as well as when and how they were using the app.

This monitoring is done using a technology known as “number registration” e in under the law known as “record digital “issued in 1986, federal agencies do not try to obtain any message content, which WhatsApp cannot provide anyway, because it is subject to so-called” peer-to-peer encryption “.

According to a report released by Forbes and viewed by Al Arabiya.net, law enforcement in the United States has repeatedly ordered WhatsApp and other tech companies to install over the past two years record digital identification, without judicial authorization or justifying the reason behind the surveillance operations.

As indicated in a statement from the US Department of Justice, it is enough for tech companies to get 3 things to help law enforcement track WhatsApp users, namely: the identity of the attorney or law enforcement who apply; the identity of the applicant institution; and a certificate from the applicant that “the information that may be obtained is relevant to a criminal investigation in course by tale agency”.

In another memorandum, the government explained that, aside from the three points listed above, federal law does not require any applications for an order authorizing the installation and use of a pen and tracking device.

The latest case shows that the unjustified US intrusion has a global reach, far beyond local WhatsApp users and users from neighboring countries, and affects foreign targets whose identities are unknown to the government. According to another court document uncovered by Forbes, a previous case in Ohio saw the targeting of 7 other WhatsApp users, 3 in the US and 4 in Mexico.

Sales of Chinese opioids
Since Chinese WhatsApp numbers were posted unchanged in the government file, Forbes was in able to find indications that the DEA was trying to monitor Chinese individuals and entities who were shipping drugs through the web and encrypted apps.

Although the DEA may legitimately use the “Digital Registry” law to track down suppliers of Chinese chemicals fueling the opioid crisis in America, there are still concerns about unconditional surveillance, without giving reasons for surveillance.

However, despite the ACLU’s complaints about the law dating back decades, there are few signs of a move by the US Congress to address the more controversial aspects of the law. Therefore, US agencies can continue to monitor users of one of the most popular messaging apps in the world without having to give any reasons, either to the judge or to the public.

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