Countries that restrict access to WhatsApp usually block access to the application's servers, preventing users from sending or receiving messages. WhatsApp will integrate in the coming days an option to manually choose a proxy server, that is, a server that acts as an intermediary and automatically relays data to WhatsApp's servers. Since these proxy servers have a different address than those of WhatsApp, they are more difficult for censors to identify and block.
Blockades in Iran
“Connecting through a proxy server maintains the high overseas chinese in australia data level of privacy and security offered by WhatsApp. Personal messages will always be protected by end-to-end encryption, which means that they will remain between the people communicating and no one else will be able to see them, not even WhatsApp or Meta proxy servers ,” WhatsApp writes. Individuals as well as non-
governmental organizations can create proxy servers directly. At the same time, the EDPS has also asked the DPC to conduct a new investigation to delve deeper into Meta's use of personal data. But the Irish authority believes that the European regulator does not have the power to order it "to engage in an open and speculative investigation" , according to its press release, and is preparing to lodge an action for annulment of this request before the European Court.
This new feature appears to have been specifically designed for Iranian users of the app. Both WhatsApp and Instagram (both owned by the Meta group) have been blocked in the country since the start of anti-government protests in late 2022. In a rare move, the country is specifically mentioned by WhatsApp in its statement, which refers to the access cuts in Iran which "violate human rights by preventing the population from receiving urgent aid."
