Brazilian judge orders WhatsApp blocked for 72 hours over encryption row

Brazilian judge Marcel Montalvao ordered WhatsApp to hand over chat records related to a drug case, but the Facebook-owned company said it couldn’t comply because the conversations are encrypted in a way it can’t crack, TechCrunch noted. In response, the temporary ban is being put in effect through orders to telecoms companies.

WhatsApp is extremely popular in Brazil, with over 100 million users. In many cases people use the app to get around local cellphone rates, which can be inordinately expensive.