A major legal battle has erupted in the United States against Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, accusing it of misleading billions of users worldwide about the app’s privacy protections. Filed in the San Francisco District Court, the class-action lawsuit alleges that WhatsApp secretly stores, analyzes, and accesses users’ private chats, directly contradicting its long-standing end-to-end encryption promises.
The plaintiffs, hailing from countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, claim Meta and its top executives have deceived users by asserting unbreakable privacy while maintaining hidden access to message data. They seek court approval to proceed as a class action, representing millions potentially affected globally.
Meta swiftly dismissed the allegations as ‘baseless and fabricated.’ A company spokesperson emphasized that WhatsApp has employed end-to-end encryption based on the Signal Protocol for over a decade, ensuring only the sender and recipient can read messages. ‘Claims that WhatsApp messages are not secure are completely false and absurd,’ the spokesperson stated, vowing aggressive legal defense.
WhatsApp, launched in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton in the US, exploded in popularity after Meta acquired it for $19 billion in 2014. Mark Zuckerberg hailed the purchase as aligning with Facebook’s mission to connect the world. Today, it boasts over 3 billion monthly active users, including more than 100 million in the US alone, cementing its status as the world’s top mobile messaging app.
This lawsuit reignites debates over tech giants’ data practices amid rising global scrutiny on privacy. As the case unfolds, users may question the true extent of their digital sanctuary, while Meta fights to uphold its encryption legacy.
