German police can read WhatsApp and Signal messages without breaking encryption
Assessment
The phrasing is exactly right and the opposite phrasing, which also circulates, is wrong. The ZKA directive describes recording messenger data "without having to infiltrate the IT system with surveillance software"; the 2018 BKA paper describes using "regularly usable functions of the WhatsApp software"; the BGH describes "creation of a further access." A police computer is added as a linked device with a valid confirmation, and the end-to-end encryption terminates at it as designed. No cryptographic weakness is involved. Any report that German police "hacked" or "cracked" WhatsApp misdescribes the mechanism.
Where this claim appeared
Cybernews · 2026-09-11
https://cybernews.com/privacy/police-telegram-whatsapp-signal-surveillance-linked-devicesWhat “Verified” means
Established by primary sources — the original disclosure, a vendor incident report, a court filing, a government advisory, or the affected party itself. Where a claim is material, at least two independent sources agree.
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Messenger Monitoring: How German Police Read WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram Without a TrojanThink this assessment is wrong? Report an error.