The government has asked companies to disclose the first originator of what is deemed as mischievous messages by the government.

With the government issuing new, harsher requirements for social media businesses, including messaging applications, a discussion has erupted over whether this means WhatsApp will have to breach end-to-end encryption, which would jeopardize the privacy of private talks between individuals.

The government has requested businesses to identify the first sender of what it considers to be malicious messages.

According to some legal experts, the government is attempting to snoop on private conversations by asking messaging apps like WhatsApp to trace the origin of communications, and encryption must be cracked in order to do so. Experts in the field of technology, on the other hand, disagree. They claim that the origin of messages can be traced without breaking any encryption, and that WhatsApp is using the issue of breaking encryption as a red herring.

The government has made it mandatory for messaging apps to disclose the originator of messages if the matter involves law and order issues or threatens the country’s sovereignty, integrity, or friendly relations with neighboring countries, among other things, according to new guidelines announced on Thursday. In such circumstances, WhatsApp would have to track down the message’s origins within 72 hours of being contacted.

Despite the fact that WhatsApp conversations are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be read by WhatsApp, technology experts claim that the firm can track the origin of the messages using source code. To track messages, source codes are employed in mobile phones and e-mail networks. While call data records are used in phone networks, internet protocol data records are used in e-mails (IPDR).

“Every message, whether it’s sent over SMS, email, or WhatsApp, has a source code and a destination code that can be tracked.” This can happen without violating the encryption or privacy policies, according to a technical expert.

When law enforcement agencies track mobile call data records to investigate crime, for example, they do not listen in on phone conversations. E-mail accounts are not hacked when the source of e-mail is followed to investigate illegal behavior. The government is not requesting WhatsApp to read a malicious message; rather, it is asking it to alert the government of where the communication originated within the country. “In circumstances when messages cause law and order issues, communal animosity, and so on, traceability is necessary.” In such circumstances, law enforcement officials must determine where an infamous communication originated in order to take necessary legal action, according to a technology expert.

However, in order to provide such traceability, a domestic regulation must be in place that specifies how long WhatsApp must preserve data. When it comes to over-the-top (OTT) players, there is currently no policy on local data storage or for how long data must be kept. SMSes must be preserved for three months in the case of mobile carriers, according to the law.

The government can require WhatsApp to track the origin of a communication if an immediate investigation into an alleged crime is conducted, but if time passes, the messaging app can correctly claim that the message is not retained on its servers since there is no law regarding it.

The government has been in contact with WhatsApp for more than two years about tracking the origins of conversations, but the messaging platform has always stated that it is unable to do so, claiming that the messages are encrypted and that it cannot read them due to its privacy restrictions. It will be interesting to watch how successful the government is in enforcing such laws with the firm.