Amazon Internet Providers’ (AWS) consumer-focused encrypted chat app Wickr Me is quietly winding down after shutting down sign-ups in December 2022.

Having been acquired by Amazon in June 2021 after first launching Wickr Me in 2012, Wickr stated in an announcement (opens in new tab) on its firm information weblog that the transfer was being made in order that it might concentrate on encrypted communication options geared in direction of enterprise customers.

The corporate already has the personal chat apps AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise, and says it stays dedicated to providing “safety and administrative options designed to safeguard delicate communications” to these prospects.

The issue with encryption

Whereas it’s simple that the choice is partly motivated by cash, and enterprise prospects being extra possible to purchase into the service than customers, there are additionally causes to imagine the shutdown of Wickr Me can be a prudent PR transfer.

In June 2022, NBC Information (opens in new tab) found 72 court docket instances prior to now 5 years regarding the proliferation of sexual materials involving minors on the platform. a spokesperson for AWS responded by claiming that “Wickr completely responds appropriately to, and cooperates with, regulation enforcement on these important issues.”

And, as CNBC factors out, the app was as a lot a protected haven for drug sellers, hacking teams and terrorists as for journalists and others with well-intentioned wants for privateness. In 2015, information shops reported that the terrorist group Islamic State was utilizing Wickr Me as a recruitment software.

Since Wickr’s acquisition by AWS in 2021, the corporate has confronted scrutiny over its authorities contract work with businesses akin to Customs and Border Safety, that’s conspicuously absent from its newest announcement. 

The corporate has additionally been discovered (opens in new tab) to facilitate the destruction of US authorities communications.

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By way of CNBC (opens in new tab)