Most fashionable shopper messaging platforms (together with Google Messages) help end-to-end encryption, however customers at this time are restricted to speaking with contacts who use the identical platform. This is the reason Google is strongly supportive of regulatory efforts that require interoperability for big end-to-end messaging platforms.
For interoperability to reach follow, nevertheless, rules have to be mixed with open, industry-vetted, requirements, significantly within the space of privateness, safety, and end-to-end encryption. With out sturdy standardization, the end result can be a spaghetti of advert hoc middleware that would decrease safety requirements to cater for the bottom frequent denominator and lift implementation prices, significantly for smaller suppliers. Lack of standardization would additionally make superior options reminiscent of end-to-end encrypted group messaging unattainable in follow – group messages must be encrypted and delivered a number of occasions to cater for each totally different protocol.
With the latest publication of the IETF’s Message Layer Safety (MLS) specification RFC 9420, messaging customers can sit up for this actuality. For the primary time, MLS permits sensible interoperability throughout providers and platforms, scaling to teams of 1000’s of multi-device customers. It is usually versatile sufficient to permit suppliers to tackle rising threats to person privateness and safety, reminiscent of quantum computing.
By guaranteeing a uniformly excessive safety and privateness bar that customers can belief, MLS will unleash an enormous subject of latest alternatives for the customers and builders of interoperable messaging providers that undertake it. This is the reason we intend to construct MLS into Google Messages and help its broad deployment throughout the {industry} by open sourcing our implementation within the Android codebase.
