Most trendy shopper messaging platforms (together with Google Messages) assist end-to-end encryption, however customers as we speak are restricted to speaking with contacts who use the identical platform. That is why Google is strongly supportive of regulatory efforts that require interoperability for big end-to-end messaging platforms.

For interoperability to reach follow, nonetheless, rules have to be mixed with open, industry-vetted, requirements, notably within the space of privateness, safety, and end-to-end encryption. With out strong standardization, the end result shall be a spaghetti of advert hoc middleware that might decrease safety requirements to cater for the bottom widespread denominator and lift implementation prices, notably for smaller suppliers. Lack of standardization would additionally make superior options comparable to 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 current publication of the IETF’s Message Layer Safety (MLS) specification RFC 9420, messaging customers can look ahead to this actuality. For the primary time, MLS allows sensible interoperability throughout providers and platforms, scaling to teams of hundreds of multi-device customers. It’s also versatile sufficient to permit suppliers to handle rising threats to consumer privateness and safety, comparable to quantum computing.

By making certain a uniformly excessive safety and privateness bar that customers can belief, MLS will unleash an enormous subject of recent alternatives for the customers and builders of interoperable messaging providers that undertake it. That is why we intend to construct MLS into Google Messages and assist its vast deployment throughout the {industry} by open sourcing our implementation within the Android codebase.