end-to-end encryption

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a communication security method in which data is encrypted on the sender's device and can only be decrypted by the intended recipient, meaning that the service provider transmitting the data cannot read it even if compelled by law or hacked by adversaries; end-to-end encryption is implemented in messaging applications including Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage and provides strong protection against surveillance, data breaches, and man-in-the-middle attacks; it is the subject of fierce political controversy: law enforcement agencies in the US, UK, EU, and Australia argue that it shields criminal and terrorist communications from lawful interception and have sought to require encryption backdoors; cryptographers and civil liberties advocates counter that secure encryption without backdoors is a non-negotiable foundation of digital privacy, and that any backdoor necessarily weakens security for all users