Can Meta Really Read Your WhatsApp Messages? New Lawsuit Says Yes

TLDR

• A group of WhatsApp users from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa filed a lawsuit against Meta on Friday in San Francisco federal court
• The plaintiffs claim Meta’s end-to-end encryption is fake and that the company can access, store and analyze WhatsApp messages
• Meta communications director Andy Stone called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said WhatsApp has used Signal protocol encryption for a decade
• The lawsuit cites unnamed whistleblowers but does not provide details about their identities or evidence
• Telegram CEO Pavel Durov supported the lawsuit, claiming WhatsApp’s encryption has security vulnerabilities

Meta is facing a lawsuit from WhatsApp users who claim the company can access their private messages. The case was filed Friday in US District Court in San Francisco.

The plaintiffs come from five countries. They are from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. The group represents WhatsApp’s more than 3 billion users worldwide.

The lawsuit challenges Meta’s end-to-end encryption feature. WhatsApp has promoted this feature as keeping messages private between sender and recipient only. The app displays a message saying “only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share” the content.

The plaintiffs say these privacy claims are false. They allege Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications.” The lawsuit accuses the companies and their leaders of fraud.

The complaint mentions whistleblowers helped bring this information forward. However, the lawsuit does not identify who these whistleblowers are. It also does not explain what evidence they provided.

Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014. The company has strongly denied the allegations. Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, responded on Monday through an X post.

Meta’s Response to Privacy Accusations

Stone called the lawsuit “frivolous” and a “work of fiction.” He said any claim that WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is “categorically false and absurd.” Stone stated that WhatsApp has used end-to-end encryption with the Signal protocol for ten years.

A Meta spokesperson said the company will pursue sanctions against the plaintiffs’ lawyers. This means Meta may seek penalties against the attorneys who filed the case. The company maintains that its encryption technology keeps messages secure.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov weighed in on the controversy. He expressed support for the lawsuit on social media. Durov claimed that when Telegram analyzed WhatsApp’s encryption implementation, they found multiple security vulnerabilities.

Decentralized Messaging Apps Gain Users

The lawsuit comes as more people turn to alternative messaging platforms. Bitchat, a decentralized messaging app launched by Jack Dorsey, has seen increased downloads recently. The app uses Bluetooth mesh networks and works without internet access.

Bitchat has become popular in Uganda, Iran, Nepal, Indonesia and Jamaica. Users in these countries have adopted the app during social media restrictions and natural disasters. Other encrypted messaging alternatives include Session and X-Messenger.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers are requesting class-action certification for the lawsuit. Multiple attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Keller Postman are representing the plaintiffs. Jay Barnett from Barnett Legal is also part of the legal team but declined to comment.

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