WhatsApp Class Action Raises Questions Over Meta Encryption Promises

Casablanca – A new class action lawsuit filed in California federal court is putting one of WhatsApp’s biggest promises under fresh scrutiny, with plaintiffs alleging that private messages may have been accessed by Meta employees and outside contractors despite years of assurances that chats are protected by end-to-end encryption. Filed by Brian Y. Shirazi and Nida Samson in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the case names Meta Platforms, WhatsApp LLC, Accenture PLC, and Accenture LLP as defendants. The proposed class would cover WhatsApp users nationwide who sent or received messages on the platform between April 5, 2016, and the present, with separate subclasses for users in California and Pennsylvania. At the heart of the complaint is WhatsApp’s long-running claim that “not even WhatsApp” can read users’ personal messages. The plaintiffs argue that this promise did not match what was allegedly happening behind the scenes, claiming the company intercepted, stored, accessed, and viewed private communications, while also allowing employees, contractors, and other third parties to do the same without users’ knowledge or consent. Read also: Microsoft Faces Backlash Over Copilot Terms Calling Chatbot ‘Entertainment Only’ The lawsuit points to whistleblower allegations that were reportedly shared with
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