Shortly after Meta (then Facebook) bought WhatsApp in 2014, it promised to implement a surprisingly un-Facebooky feature: End-to-end encryption. The move was supposed to be a boon for privacy, ensuring nobody could see your messages aside from the recipient and yourself. Even now, WhatsApp’s website claims, “No one outside of the chat, not even WhatsApp, can read, listen to, or share [your messages].” However, a new lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco is now claiming that’s not the case.
According to reporting from Bloomberg, an international group of plaintiffs has sued Meta, saying that the app’s claims of end-to-end encryption are a lie. The lawsuit alleges that Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp user’s purportedly ‘private’ communications.”
The plaintiffs include users from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, who are being represented by attorneys from several firms. The allegations cite “whistleblowers” who helped bring this information to light, but no more is known as of yet.
In an email to Bloomberg, Meta strongly denied the allegations. The company called the lawsuit “frivolous,” assuring users that WhatsApp uses the open-source Signal protocol for encryption and adding that “[a]ny claim that people’s WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd.”
If the lawsuit succeeds, it could affect billions of users around the world. That’s because the plaintiffs’ lawyers are asking the court to certify a class-action lawsuit.
What do you think so far?
In the meantime, WhatApp is far from the only option for encrypted messaging apps. While it’s unclear how the lawsuit will proceed, those looking to jump ship might want to look at alternatives like Signal or Viber instead. Note that some apps, like Telegram, do offer end-to-end encryption, but don’t enable it by default. (Personally I use Line, because of the anime stickers.)
I’ve reached out to Meta for further comment, and will update this story once I hear back.
