Meta wins dismissal of WhatsApp privacy suit as judge questions whistleblower detail

A US District Judge, Rita Lin, has dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Meta, which alleged that the company can bypass WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiffs from several countries including Australia and Brazil, claimed that unnamed whistleblowers provided evidence that Meta employees or contractors could access private messages through internal systems. While the judge ruled that the current complaint lacked sufficient detail regarding the whistleblowers' specific knowledge, she did not rule the allegations impossible and declined to sanction Meta, leaving the door open for the plaintiffs to refile an amended complaint by August.

Meta has denied the allegations, calling them "categorically false" and maintaining that WhatsApp's encryption remains secure. This legal setback for the plaintiffs follows the abrupt closure of a similar investigation by the US Commerce Department, the reasons for which remain unknown. Despite this dismissal, Meta faces ongoing legal challenges regarding privacy, including a separate lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The company continues to invest in privacy features, such as secure enclaves for AI chats, even as it faces scrutiny over its historical data handling practices and previous EU privacy fines.

(Source：TNW)