Chat service Line activates end-to-end encryption for every user

The chat app Line, which is particularly popular in Asia, will receive standard support for end-to-end encryption. The company behind Line calls the security functionality ‘Letter Sealing’. The option for Hidden Chats will disappear.

The company behind Line is now activating the feature for all users after making Letter Sealing available to a limited number of users in October last year. Line is ending support for secure Hidden Chats. “Those who used Hidden Chat can now enjoy the same level of security with one-on-one chats,” Line cites as the reason for the disappearance. Users should use the latest version of Line on iOS and Android for secure communication.

Line does not mention details about the encryption. When properly implemented, end-to-end encryption makes decrypting chat communications impossible or at least difficult. The encryption takes place on the sender’s phone and is only undone at the receiver. Line’s major competitor, WhatsApp, got end-to-end encryption in early April.

Line, like WhatsApp, has 215 million active users at the last count and is especially popular in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. The Japanese Line Corporation develops the chat app and that company is owned by the Korean Naver.