Texas sues Meta, WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims

The Texas Attorney General’s Office on Thursday sued WhatsApp and its parent company Meta Platforms Inc alleging ​they misled consumers about the strength and scope of WhatsApp’s ‌encryption measures, which a Meta spokesman denied.

The lawsuit in Harrison County court alleges that WhatsApp and Meta falsely assure users that WhatsApp messages are encrypted ​, despite having access to “virtually all” private communications on the messaging app.

“WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, ⁠but it does not deliver on those promises,” Texas Attorney ​General Ken Paxton said in a statement.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone said ​on social media that the lawsuit’s allegations are false and that WhatsApp cannot access people’s encrypted communications.

The lawsuit seeks a court order barring Meta and ​WhatsApp from accessing Texans’ WhatsApp messages without their consent, as ​well as monetary penalties.

Texas’ lawsuit cites news reports about a federal investigation into ‌claims ⁠that Meta had access to unencrypted WhatsApp messages and a whistleblower report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The lawsuit was filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the state’s main ​consumer protection law.

Paxton’s ​office has filed ⁠a number of similar data privacy lawsuits against major companies, including Google, which agreed in May ​2025 to pay $1.375 billion to settle claims that it ​violated ⁠users’ data privacy.

On May 11, Paxton’s office filed a lawsuit accusing Netflix of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data ⁠without consent ​and designing its platform to be ​addictive.

Netflix denied the allegations and said the lawsuit is based on inaccurate and distorted ​information.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)