I think they still don't store it, What there are doing here is syncing all messages from phone to web when paired. FAQ clearly mentions that web version connects with phone to sync data - https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/web/28080002
Ugh. This is why I was saying before that I'm quite worried that Whatsapp itself didn't come out and say publicly that it uses TextSecure's end-to-end protocol, and that we should stop praising them for "adopting end-to-end encryption" until they actually say they did (for which I got downvoted).
Note that AFAIR the reason wasn't so that it was more secure, but to remind users that Snapchat is about the instant and so that users wouldn't expect it to store all of their lives, only the right now.
A cheap and easy way to keep your storage needs low, if you ask me.
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I thought that Whatsapp didn't store (or read) messages, and that was why it was so secure / awesome?
So how can they do this?
I think they still don't store it, What there are doing here is syncing all messages from phone to web when paired. FAQ clearly mentions that web version connects with phone to sync data - https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/web/28080002
You're mistaken, they do store. And don't hide it.
Also they don't even encrypt, they send messages over the air in plain text. YAY $16 billion!
Hopefully that will change soon.
https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp/
Ugh. This is why I was saying before that I'm quite worried that Whatsapp itself didn't come out and say publicly that it uses TextSecure's end-to-end protocol, and that we should stop praising them for "adopting end-to-end encryption" until they actually say they did (for which I got downvoted).
https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp/
Didn't WhatsApp integrate TextSecure?
How is dropping a message to someone who is not online or cannot be reached at that instant because of network connectivity awesome?
You must be mixing it with Snapchat.
Note that AFAIR the reason wasn't so that it was more secure, but to remind users that Snapchat is about the instant and so that users wouldn't expect it to store all of their lives, only the right now.
A cheap and easy way to keep your storage needs low, if you ask me.