Prosper Okoye
Meta is facing a lawsuit in the United States amid allegations that it can access and analyse private WhatsApp messages, despite long-standing assurances that the service is protected by end-to-end encryption.
The case, filed on Friday at a federal court in San Francisco, was brought by an international group of plaintiffs who accuse Meta of misleading billions of users about the privacy of their communications.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelWhatsApp, which Meta acquired in 2014, has repeatedly said its end-to-end encryption ensures that messages can only be read by the sender and the recipient. The app tells users that “only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share” their messages, with encryption enabled by default.
However, the plaintiffs argue that these claims are false. In court filings, they allege that Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyse, and can access virtually all” user communications that are presented as private.
The lawsuit claims that Meta executives knowingly promoted encryption guarantees while maintaining systems that allow the company to retain the substance of users’ messages. It also alleges that Meta employees are able to access those communications.
The plaintiffs, who are based in countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa, say the company’s conduct amounts to fraud on a global scale.
Meta has strongly rejected the allegations.
A company spokesperson, Andy Stone, described the lawsuit as “frivolous” and said Meta intended to seek sanctions against the lawyers who filed it.
“Any claim that people’s WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd,” he said. “WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade. This lawsuit is a frivolous work of fiction.”
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The court filing refers to unnamed whistleblowers as sources for some of the claims, though no individuals are identified.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs are seeking class action status. Several law firms listed in the case did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while one lawyer representing the group declined to speak publicly.
The case adds to growing global scrutiny of Meta’s data practices, as governments and regulators continue to question how technology companies collect, store and monetise user information.
Prosper Okoye is a Correspondent and Research Writer at Prime Business Africa, a Nigerian journalist with experience in development reporting, public affairs, and policy-focused storytelling across Africa
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