Meta’s messaging app WhatsApp has denied claims of an internal investigation, following a lawsuit alleging a major breach of user data. In a statement on January 30, the company said the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security had disavowed the purported probe, calling its employee’s allegations unsubstantiated.
The company was responding to an X user, Doge Designer, who had allegedly exposed what Meta contractors revealed regarding the security of messages on the popular platform.
“Former Meta contractors say company staff could read WhatsApp chats despite encryption claims,” said Doge Deigner.
The X user added, “US officials are now investigating whether messages are truly private. The Commerce Department and a 2024 SEC whistleblower complaint are now reviewing the allegations.”
However, in a quick rejoinder, Meta explained that neither it nor its contractors can access users’ encrypted communications, rendering the claims impossible.
“This is false. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security has disavowed this purported investigation, calling its own employees’ allegations unsubstantiated. What these individuals claim is not possible because WhatsApp, including contractors, cannot access people’s encrypted communications,” read the statement.
WhatsApp Denies Claims of Accessing Users’ Encrypted Chats
The complaint, filed in a U.S. federal court in California, alleged that Meta misleads more than two billion users by promoting privacy encryption while internally storing and reviewing message content.
The lawsuit also claimed that employees can access chats through internal requests.
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However, WhatsApp rejected the lawsuit, accusing Meta of accessing users’ encrypted messages, calling the claims false.
The company said chats remain protected by device-level Signal protocol encryption.
WhatsApp said the lawsuit provides no technical evidence to support the allegations.
The company stressed that messages are encrypted on users’ devices before being sent, and only recipients have the keys required to decrypt them, which Meta cannot access.
Probe
On January 25, Bloomberg reported that U.S. law enforcement is investigating claims from former Meta contractors that company staff can access WhatsApp messages.
Meta has repeatedly stated that the messaging service is private and encrypted.
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Similar allegations were also raised in a 2024 whistleblower complaint filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
About end-to-end encryption
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption to secure messages and calls between users.
This means that only the sender and recipient can read or listen to the content; not even WhatsApp can access it.
Messages are automatically encrypted with a unique key, and no special settings are required to enable this protection.
To verify that your chat is end-to-end encrypted:
- Open the chat.
- Tap the contact’s name to open the contact info screen.
- Tap Encryption to open the verification page.
- Wait for automatic verification to complete and check the result.
- You can also verify manually by viewing the QR code or 60-digit number.
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