- Elon Musk criticised WhatsApp's data security and urged users to switch to X Chat
- A lawsuit alleges Meta falsely claims WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted
- Plaintiffs accuse Meta of accessing and analysing users' private WhatsApp messages
Billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday criticised Meta-owned WhatsApp over data security and urged users to switch to X Chat. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO's post comes amid a lawsuit against allegations of Meta "virtually" being able to access users' private chats, despite promising end-to-end encryption. "WhatsApp is not secure. Even Signal is questionable. Use X Chat," the world's richest person wrote in his X post.
Musk slammed WhatsApp and Signal replying to a post by a user. Citing whistleblowers, the user's post claimed that private chats on the messaging platform can be read by WhatsApp, despite promises of end-to-end encryption.
Meta Platforms has been sued by an international group of plaintiffs alleging that the company made false claims regarding the security and privacy of its highly popular chat service, according to a Bloomberg report.
The company has made “end-to-end” encryption a pivotal part of WhatsApp's features. This offers a kind of encryption, which means that messages being shared on the chat service remain accessible to the sender and recipient only and not the company.
However, the group of plaintiffs, in their lawsuit filed on Friday, Jan. 23, questioned the company's privacy claims, calling them “false”. The lawsuit highlights that both Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyse, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users' purportedly ‘private' communications”.
They have accused Meta and WhatsApp of defrauding billions of users around the world.
In “end-to-end” encryption, which remains turned on by default, the in-app messaging states that “only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share” the texts.
The plaintiffs in the group are from various countries, including India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. It has been alleged that Meta stores the substance of users' communications and has access to them.
In their complaint, they have cited “whistleblowers” in helping to bring forward this information to the public.
A spokesperson for Meta said that the lawsuit is “frivolous,” adding that it looks forward to "pursuing sanctions against plaintiffs' counsel”.
“Any claim that people's WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd. WhatsApp has been end-to-end encrypted using the Signal protocol for a decade. This lawsuit is a frivolous work of fiction," Bloomberg quoted spokesperson Andy Stone as saying.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, acquired messaging platform WhatsApp in 2014.
Watch LIVE TV, Get Stock Market Updates, Top Business, IPO and Latest News on NDTV Profit.