What Is End-To-End Encryption And Why WhatsApp Rival Arattai App Needs It

India’s search for local challengers to WhatsApp has brought us to Zoho’s Arattai app in recent weeks. It has garnered a lot of attention, courtesy the government pushing people to use Swadeshi apps. Arattai (means

chit-chat) has the makings of being a strong made in India WhatsApp rival and it has most of the features that people need to use a messaging platform.

However, one of the biggest omissions from the Arattai app has been the support for end-to-end encryption on chats, but available for video/voice calls. There has been a serious debate going on the internet over this matter, and the company has promised that end-to-end encryption (E2E) is being tested internally and will be rolling out soon.

So why is E2E so important for chats, and what does the feature actually offer that millions have relied on with apps like WhatsApp, Signal and more? Here’s a closer look at the details. 

E2E For Chats: Why Arattai App Needs It? 

Before we get to the crux of the story, it is important to understand the point of having E2E for chats in the first place. The technology is a communication method that is entrusted with keeping your data (chats) private and this transmission is only available to those sending and receiving. 

Which means, any chat that you send on WhatsApp can be only read by the receiver, not even WhatsApp or Meta can read the contents of the messages. By encrypted content, you get text which is in unreadable form, even during the transit it remains in that state, and when the message hits the person’s feed, the devices share a key, which decrypts the content and lets them read it. 

This form has made platforms like WhatsApp, Signal and others very reliable and secure. Arattai, at the time of writing, does not have that protection against chats, but it does offer encrypted calls for its users. 

Now that you have understood the genesis of E2E for chats, you realise that messages sent across Arattai apps are not secure. They can be intercepted by any bad actor, or even the internet service provider. This also becomes a concern when the government authorities are able to access the messages putting the person’s privacy at risk. 

Zoho Founder, Sridhar Vembu launched Arattai in 2021 and back then he didn’t feel the need for E2E on chat. Now, with the need and hype around the platform, it is pivotal they bring E2E for chats at the earliest. There has been a clamour in the West for E2E to be reduced so that contents in a message are readable but WhatsApp and other privacy experts are clearly not in favour of such changes and even warned they will stop working in such regions. 

All these aspects make it clear that Arattai app needs the highest level of encryption, one that can be scrutinised and audited, not at the beck of the enforcement agencies.