How end-to-end encryption works: why even WhatsApp cannot read your messages
Safety numbers: what the long number in your chat app is for
Open the details of a chat in Signal or WhatsApp. You find a long number that most people never look at. This number helps you catch a fake key, and you can check it without trusting the server.
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1
Your chat with Miva has a screen most people never open. It shows a long number, 60 digits, worked out from two keys: your public key, and the one your phone holds as Miva's.
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Miva's phone works out its number from the same two keys, seen from her side. If nobody swapped anything, both phones hold the same two keys, so both screens show the same number.
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