The UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd is today meeting with technology firms to discuss how they can help to combat terrorism. The meeting comes just days after Rudd said that encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp should not be a "secret place to hide."

Calls for backdoors to be built into encrypted apps and services have been met with shock, derision and incredulity, but some have pointed out that the controversial Investigatory Powers Act (aka the snooper's charter) already grants the government the right to force the removal of encryption. Ahead of the Rudd's meeting, civil liberty organizations have written a letter demanding transparency.

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WhatsApp has been criticized for failing to help police following the revelation that Khalid Masood used the encrypted messaging service shortly before running down numerous people and stabbing a policeman to death in London last week.

The UK home secretary Amber Rudd spoke out over the weekend, saying that police and other agencies should be granted access to encrypted messages with a view to countering future terrorist attacks. Later this week, Rudd is due to meet with technology leaders to talk about how the government should be able to access messages protected by end-to-end encryption -- something already dropped from the controversial snooper's charter.

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When WikiLeaks' Vault 7 revelations about the spying capabilities and techniques were unleashed, there was concern about a number of popular apps and services that -- the documents suggested -- had been compromised. Included in this list are popular, secure chat apps WhatsApp and Telegram, and Check Point software has just released details of a vulnerability that left millions of user accounts exposed to hackers.

Google was recently criticized for releasing details of a security hole in Windows (and, subsequently another one in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge) before Microsoft had patched it. In fact, it was a third party who jumped to the rescue, issuing patches before Microsoft. This time around, however, after notification of the problems from security firm Check Point, WhatsApp and Telegram both patched the security holes within a week.

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Messaging apps are not just about chatting these days. Every player that counts wants to bring something extra to the table to keep users hooked and attract new ones in the process. WhatsApp is no different, as it is now rolling out an updated status feature that lets users share more than just basic messages.

"We are excited to announce that, coinciding with WhatsApp's eight birthday on February 24, we are reinventing the status feature", says WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum. The update gives users the option to also share photos and videos.

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It has been a little while coming, but WhatsApp is finally rolling out support for two-step verification to its messaging app.

The extra layer of security means that it is now more difficult to gain unauthorized access to an account, and it is a feature that is being made available to iOS, Android and Windows users. With the feature enabled, if you -- or anyone else, for that matter -- tries to verify your phone number on WhatsApp, you -- or they -- will have to provide the 6-digit passcode you create.

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Earlier this month there was widespread reporting in both the tech and mainstream media of the discovery of a potential security vulnerability in Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service. Coverage of the likely flaw, which was reportedly discovered by researchers at Berkeley University in California, was a blow to Facebook given that WhatsApp places privacy and security at the heart of its service by providing end-to-end encryption of user's messages and photos, preventing third parties including its own staff from accessing them.

In a nutshell the potential security flaw would theoretically allow WhatsApp to intercept some users' messages, which would appear to them to be encrypted. This has resulted in considerable speculation that government agencies could exploit this vulnerability as a means of covert surveillance, by targeting specific individuals' messages or on a bulk extraction basis.

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Facebook-owned WhatsApp was in the headlines recently because of concerns over the way it implemented end-to-end-encryption. Analysis of a beta version of the chat app showed that there seem to be plans to introduce message editing and deletion options, and new reports suggest that real-time location tracking could also be on the cards.

As reported by the Independent, version 2.16.399 of WhatsApp for Android and version 2.17.3.28 for iOS include a feature called Live Location Tracking. It's an option designed to make it easier to meet up in the flesh, but it's also something that will be of concern for privacy advocates.

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Two features that are requested of messaging apps -- but found in very few -- are the ability to delete messages, and the ability to edit them. There could be good news on the horizon for WhatsApp users as the latest beta of the app includes references to precisely these two features.

While controversial to some, many users would welcome the option to edit messages that include typos, or to recall messages that were fired off in haste. Although references to both options have been found in WhatsApp beta 2.17.25, neither are currently active.

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Earlier today we reported about a security problem in WhatsApp that means it is possible for messages to be intercepted and read by others. The so-called 'backdoor' takes advantage of the fact that WhatsApp's implementation of end-to-end encryption makes it possible to resend encrypted messages using different security keys, allowing for third parties to read them.

What is concerning many people is the fact that (by default, at least) WhatsApp does not alert users when a message is resent using a different key -- which would be a warning of something going on. Here's what you need to do to ensure you are told when the key changes.

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Facebook has long-claimed that its WhatsApp messaging service is completely secure and messages cannot be intercepted thanks to its use of end-to-end encryption. But researchers have unearthed what they call a serious security flaw that makes it possible to read encrypted messages.

Based on Open Whisper Systems' Signal Protocol, the unique security keys used to implement end-to-end encryption should keep messages secure. But WhatsApp can force offline users to generate new keys and this could allow Facebook -- and third parties -- to read messages.

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Welcoming the new year with a trumpet of doom, WhatsApp is bringing misery to many users. If you're using old versions of iOS, Android or -- heaven forbid -- Windows Phone 7, Facebook's popular messaging tool no longer works.

There is a brief stay of execution for anyone still packing a BlackBerry, but as of June 30 these will also be cut off. WhatsApp says that "BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60" will stop working by the middle of the year, but it is the hundreds of thousands of Android and iOS users that will be hardest hit.

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The European Commission could hit Facebook with a colossal fine for providing misleading information during its $19bn takeover of WhatsApp.

The social networking giant could be hit with a fine equivalent to 1 percent of annual sales (around $125m) for failing to correctly communicate planned changes to privacy policies. The data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook is already the subject of investigations, but this latest accusation comes as a fresh blow.

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Facebook has stopped using data collected from WhatsApp users to customize ads in Europe. The move comes after the practice was banned in Germany, and after the UK's Information Commissioner announced an investigation.

The social networking giant had already agreed to stop using WhatsApp data from users in the UK, but this has now been extended on a Europe-wide basis. Last month Facebook was on the receiving end of criticism from the Article 29 Working Party who complained about the invasion of users' privacy.

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Threatened with legal action if it failed to do so, Facebook has agreed to stop harvesting data from WhatsApp users and using that data to deliver targeted ads. The move comes weeks after the UK's Information Commissioner announced an investigation into the actions of the social network.

Facebook had already been blocked from doing this in Germany, and now the same restrictions are in place in the UK. With so much public interest in privacy, it is likely that other countries will follow suit in clamping down on Facebook's data collecting activities.

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Until concerns were raised about data sharing with Facebook to help deliver targeted ads, WhatsApp was seen as the messaging tool of choice for those concerned about privacy. As well as offering encrypted messaging, WhatsApp has always been one of the more stripped back messaging apps out there -- but no more.

Bowing to pressure to fit in with the crowd and offer the same features as the likes of SnapChat, WhatsApp is adding photo and video editing and enhancement tools. The ability to add emoji to photos, or draw and write on images are just two new options that are rolling out now.

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