The GSM Affiliation, the governing physique that oversees the event of the Wealthy Communications Companies (RCS) protocol, on Tuesday, mentioned it is working in direction of implementing end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to safe messages despatched between the Android and iOS ecosystems.
“The subsequent main milestone is for the RCS Common Profile so as to add necessary consumer protections resembling interoperable end-to-end encryption,” Tom Van Pelt, technical director of GSMA, mentioned.
“This would be the first deployment of standardized, interoperable messaging encryption between totally different computing platforms, addressing vital technical challenges resembling key federation and cryptographically-enforced group membership.”
The event comes a day after Apple formally rolled out iOS 18 with assist for RCS in its Messages app, which comes with superior options like message reactions, typing indications, learn receipts, and high-quality media sharing, amongst others.
RCS, an enchancment over the present SMS commonplace, is presently not end-to-end encrypted out of the field, prompting Google to implement the Sign protocol to safe RCS conversations on Android.
Earlier this 12 months, Apple mentioned it’ll work with GSMA members to combine encryption. It is price noting that the corporate’s proprietary iMessage service is E2EE enabled.
“We look ahead to persevering with to collaborate throughout the cellular ecosystem to advance the RCS commonplace with interoperable end-to-end encryption to maintain all RCS messages personal and safe,” Van Pelt mentioned.
Google, final July, additionally revealed plans for baking the Message Layer Safety (MLS) protocol to its Messages app for Android with the intention to facilitate interoperability throughout messaging providers and platforms.
As not too long ago as this month, Meta detailed its strategy to allow interoperability with third-party messaging providers in WhatsApp and Fb Messenger as a part of its efforts to adjust to the E.U. Digital Markets Act (DMA) whereas sustaining E2EE ensures “so far as potential.”
“Constructing third-party chats is technically difficult and preserving privateness and safety is a shared duty,” the social media firm mentioned. “We’ve got already come a great distance, however there’s much more to construct.”