WhatsApp dodges lawsuit over message privacy | Courthouse News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A federal judge Friday dismissed claims against Meta from a class of users who say they had evidence from unnamed whistleblowers that the tech giant lied about its promise that all WhatsApp communications are private and fully encrypted. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled there was insufficient information in the complaint about the basis for the whistleblowers’ knowledge for the claims to advance at this stage. “Though plaintiffs need not identify the whistleblowers to plead a plausible basis for their claims, they do need to provide some facts supporting an inference that the whistleblowers have firsthand knowledge or some other reliable basis for their accusations,” the Joe Biden appointee wrote. Lin gave plaintiffs until Aug. 13 to file an amended complaint. WhatsApp, which was purchased by Meta in 2014, is a widely used social media platform that allows users to send messages and make voice and video calls over the internet. WhatsApp advertises it uses end-to-end encryption to keep users’ communications private from everyone except message senders and recipients and that no one else — including WhatsApp itself — can view users’ communications. The plaintiffs, users of WhatsApp who live around the world, sued Meta on
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