Line follows WhatsApp and iMessage with strong encryption for users

Japan's largest messaging app will begin to encrypt location data and messages on a device level, preventing it from complying with law enforcement requests for disclosure

Japanese messaging app Line has become the latest large platform to enable end-to-end encryption for its users, frustrating governments and other would-be eavesdroppers.

The feature allows users of the Line apps on smartphones and desktops to send messages that are fully encrypted on a device level. Similar to the encryption employed by Facebook's WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage, Line's implementation of the protocol leaves the company itself unable to decrypt and read user messages, even under legal duress.