Original post text
Given the recent detainment of a French person who got detained because he said something bad about the current administration in his WhatsApp messages. It makes me wonder if WhatsApp is truly end to end encrypted as they claimed. How did they even single him out?
As a corollary question, if I were to pass Customs, and if I delete WhatsApp , Reddit etc just before I reach the counter, will they be able to find out that I just deleted the apps minutes ago? I’ll be deleting them from my phone but keep them on the cloud.
The Customs and Border Protection agents have authority to request a foreign entrant (even with visa) to unlock their phones. They can also deny entry if the entrant doesn’t cooperate.
So they don’t need to have backdoor access to WhatsApp. They can get in through the front.
My understanding is that this is what happened. They searched his phone, found the messages, then detained him.