Texas AG sues Meta, WhatsApp for allegedly lying about privacy measures

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Meta Platforms (META) Inc. and WhatsApp LLC after the company misled consumers regarding the strength and scope of its privacy protections for its messaging app, WhatsApp. WhatsApp is widely marketed as a secure messaging service that uses end-to-end encryption. This means only the sender and recipient can access the contents of messages, not even the platform itself. These representations have led millions of users to believe their communications are fully private and inaccessible to third parties. However, investigations and insider accounts have shown those claims to be “blatantly inaccurate,” the suit says. Reports suggest that employees of WhatsApp have been able to access user communications. Additional reporting and investigations indicate that message content can be pulled and viewed after the message has been sent. “Texans deserve to know whether their private communications are indeed truly private,” said Attorney General Paxton. “WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, but it does not deliver on those promises. I am suing to protect Texans’ privacy and ensure that WhatsApp by Meta does not mislead Texans by unlawfully accessing private conversations and data.”