A leaked FBI document reveals that WhatsApp is one of the most prolific platforms across the internet, in terms of sharing personal user data and information with the agency.
So much for WhatsApp’s oft-mentioned and fabled end to end encryption (E2E), right? All those media advertisements, begging users to not leave the platform since WhatsApp’s messages are as secure as it gets. No one, absolutely no one, not even the platform’s own Devs could break through the E2E encryption to get to whatever juicy gossip you and your friends are sharing. Unless, of course, the FBI or other law enforcement or intelligence agencies are involved. In which case, E2E what now, of course we’ll deliver whatever information is asked of us, user privacy is but a myth in these strange online times am I right? Is this an incredibly hypocritical ideology to adhere to? Yes. Does this sharing data mean that WhatsApp has absolutely and bare-facedly lied to its own userbase and community? Right again. But I invite users to ask themselves the question, “why did we ever trust a platform that’s owned by Meta?”
Rolling Stone and Property of the People managed to obtain a document from FBI that reveals who the biggest narcs in the business are. While the document claims that the likes of WhatsApp share “limited” information about their userbase with the FBI, the parameters for limited exercised by the platform are a bit more liberal than our shallow understanding of the word. For starters, search warrants can lead to address book contacts and even the names of other WhatsApp users who have the initial target as a contact. Accidentally talked to a real estate agent back in 2014? Well, congratulations, they got investigated for tax fraud, and the FBI is now onto you. If messages get backed to the iCloud, as is wont with iPhone owners, then the FBI has a hold of your full contact history. Isn’t this wonderful?
What makes this entire scene even better is that platforms that don’t reveal personal user data to the Bureau were also revealed via this report. I’m sure you’ve already managed to guess the two names about to be typed down. Yes, they’re Signal and Telegram, the very platforms that started giving WhatsApp competition back in the days of its policy change controversy. They claimed to be safer and much more secure than our Meta owned friend, and we now have hard evidence that this is very much the case.
Read next: A Survey Reveals That US Citizens Have Terrible Password Protection Practices When It Comes To Streaming Services
So much for WhatsApp’s oft-mentioned and fabled end to end encryption (E2E), right? All those media advertisements, begging users to not leave the platform since WhatsApp’s messages are as secure as it gets. No one, absolutely no one, not even the platform’s own Devs could break through the E2E encryption to get to whatever juicy gossip you and your friends are sharing. Unless, of course, the FBI or other law enforcement or intelligence agencies are involved. In which case, E2E what now, of course we’ll deliver whatever information is asked of us, user privacy is but a myth in these strange online times am I right? Is this an incredibly hypocritical ideology to adhere to? Yes. Does this sharing data mean that WhatsApp has absolutely and bare-facedly lied to its own userbase and community? Right again. But I invite users to ask themselves the question, “why did we ever trust a platform that’s owned by Meta?”
Rolling Stone and Property of the People managed to obtain a document from FBI that reveals who the biggest narcs in the business are. While the document claims that the likes of WhatsApp share “limited” information about their userbase with the FBI, the parameters for limited exercised by the platform are a bit more liberal than our shallow understanding of the word. For starters, search warrants can lead to address book contacts and even the names of other WhatsApp users who have the initial target as a contact. Accidentally talked to a real estate agent back in 2014? Well, congratulations, they got investigated for tax fraud, and the FBI is now onto you. If messages get backed to the iCloud, as is wont with iPhone owners, then the FBI has a hold of your full contact history. Isn’t this wonderful?
What makes this entire scene even better is that platforms that don’t reveal personal user data to the Bureau were also revealed via this report. I’m sure you’ve already managed to guess the two names about to be typed down. Yes, they’re Signal and Telegram, the very platforms that started giving WhatsApp competition back in the days of its policy change controversy. They claimed to be safer and much more secure than our Meta owned friend, and we now have hard evidence that this is very much the case.
Read next: A Survey Reveals That US Citizens Have Terrible Password Protection Practices When It Comes To Streaming Services