Amazon Acquires Privacy-Focused Chat App Wickr Used by Govt Agencies and Enterprises

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Amazon has introduced the acquisition on Wickr, the messaging firm identified for Wickr Me – a personal messenger that gives end-to-end encryption (E2E) throughout chats. Unlike most messaging platforms, Wickr Me doesn’t require a cellphone quantity or e mail deal with to register however wants contacts entry permission to allow 1:1 or group chats. The app is claimed to be in style amongst US officers and journalists, whereas the corporate additionally presents Wickr Enterprise and Wickr Pro for medium/ massive organisations. There’s additionally a Wickr RAM designed for the army that isn’t listed on public app shops. The new improvement was shared by Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Amazon Web Service (AWS) Stephen Schmidt, who beforehand spent almost a decade on the US FBI, as per his LinkedIn profile. Amazon has not disclosed the small print of the deal together with the acquisition quantity.

Amazon explains that enterprises and authorities companies have a rising want to guard their communications as they transfer to hybrid work environments is accelerating amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Wickr’s safe communications options assist enterprises and authorities organisations adapt to this alteration of their workforces and is a welcome addition to the rising set of collaboration and productiveness companies that AWS presents prospects and companions,” the e-commerce giant said in a blog post. The company notes that Wickr Me will continue to remain free and users can download the app via Google Play and Apple App Store. According to the Apple App Store privacy label, the Wickr Me and Wickr Pro track ‘Contact Info,’ ‘Identifiers,’ ‘Usage Data,’ and ‘Diagnostics.’ The Wickr Enterprise that competes with Slack, does not track any data, the App Store privacy label reveals.

Launched in 2012, Wickr services offer popular messager tools like group chats, E2E and ad-free messaging experience, and voice calling. It also offers ephemeral messaging that essentially automatically deletes messages from a particular chat after a set period of time. Though the point of ephemeral-messaging is to not store any data on servers for security purposes, Wickr Enterprise allows organisations to selectively log communication sessions for auditing purposes. It is unclear whether Wickr’s proximity to Amazon will impact its relations with the military and US officials.

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