Meta is facing a new lawsuit that takes direct aim at one of WhatsApp‘s biggest selling points: end-to-end encryption. Filed by a group of petitioners from multiple countries, the lawsuit alleges that Meta has made false claims about the privacy and security of WhatsApp chats, claiming the company can “store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purported ‘private’ communications.”
WhatsApp implemented end-to-end encryption for all communication back in 2016, and it has since been one of the key components of the platform’s pitch. The messaging app frequently reassures users that it doesn’t have access to the contents of the messages shared on the platform, with a prominent notice within encrypted chats stating “only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share” the messages.
According to Bloomberg, the petitioners argue that this is not the case and that Meta can, in fact, access messages shared in end-to-end encrypted chats. The complaint, filed in a US District Court by a group of users from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, references unnamed whistleblowers who allegedly helped bring these practices to light, though it does not provide details about who they are or what exactly they uncovered.
Meta disputes claims over WhatsApp message access
Meta has denied the allegations, with a spokesperson calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and saying that the company “will pursue sanctions against plaintiffs’ counsel.” “Any claim that people’s WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd. WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade. The lawsuit is a frivolous work of fiction,” the spokesperson said.
The legal team representing the complainants has asked the court to certify the case as a class action, a move that could significantly broaden its scope and allow WhatsApp’s global user base of more than two billion to join the lawsuit.