Leading American tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Snapchat, are working to beef up their privacy technology, according to a report in The Guardian. This comes even as Apple is in the midst of a court battle against the United States government’s move to force the company to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters. While other tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have publicly backed Apple in the case, this reported plan to increase the encryption of user data in their services indicates that the industry "may be willing to back up their public support for Apple with concrete action", the report said.

According to the report, Facebook is considering making its Messenger tool more secure by ensuring voice calls are also encrypted. Its messaging service WhatsApp also plans to extend its encryption to voice calls and group chats within weeks. While Google is exploring how to use its encrypted email technology in other services, Snapchat is working on a secure messaging system.

The new development might not go down well with the US government. Apple has held that the government's demand threatens users' security and privacy. However, the report said that these new projects by the tech companies were launched before the controversy erupted in February. WhatsApp has been rolling out strong encryption to portions of its users since 2014, it said.