Imagine a world of the near future where Android and Apple iOS users can message one another with the certainty that their communication is secured against eavesdropping by end-to-end encryption (E2EE).
And it would not only be for one-to-one chats, but across large groups of employees and users, something that is impossible to guarantee today without resorting to standalone apps such as WhatsApp.
These capabilities might soon be a reality, thanks to a technical specification released this week, the GSM Association’s RCS Universal Profile version 3.0.
In development since 2007 as a replacement for SMS, Rich Communication Services (RCS) already allows a range of features including read receipts, typing indicators, and media sharing. But E2EE security, a much more complex technical feat, has always proved elusive.