WhatsApp is accused of being able to read messages sent by users even though it often favors end-to-end encryption protection. This is revealed from a report published by the non-profit organization ProPublica.
With end-to-end encryption, messages sent on WhatsApp can only be accessed by the sender and recipient. WhatsApp and other people outside the conversation can't see the contents of the messages sent, and this is also always displayed in the banner above the chat column.
The ProPublica report says that Facebook and WhatsApp can read users' messages. They revealed WhatsApp has more than 1,000 contract employees in Austin, Texas, Dublin and Singapore whose job it is to examine user-reported content, as quoted from XDA Developer, Thursday (9/9/2021).
WhatsApp Director of Communications Carl Woog acknowledged that the company has a team of contract employees whose job it is to review user-reported messages to identify and block serious offenders. But Woog doesn't use the term 'content moderator' for the team.
Using special Facebook software, they filter the millions of messages, photos and videos that have been reported by users to then be forwarded to the artificial intelligence (AI) system. These contract employees then decide whether the content violates the rules or not.
Because WhatsApp content is protected by encryption, their AI system cannot automatically scan all messages, photos and videos like those on Facebook and Instagram that are not encrypted. So WhatsApp contract employees can only view content that has been reported by users.
When users report an account to WhatsApp, they will forward a message that is suspected of violating the rules and the four messages that were sent previously. This provision has been spelled out by WhatsApp in their FAQ on blocking and reporting contacts, but the number of messages reported is not specified.
But according to ProPublica, this reporting and moderation system has violated the privacy of WhatsApp users. ProPublica also revealed that through the reported messages, WhatsApp's AI system can collect additional information such as the name and profile photo of the WhatsApp group the user is following, phone number, profile photo, status message, phone battery level, language and time zone, unique phone ID and address. IP, associated Facebook and Instagram accounts, etc.
ProPublica also reiterated its allegations that WhatsApp violated privacy after several contract employees last year reported WhatsApp to the Securities and Exchange Commission for not taking user privacy seriously. The report says WhatsApp uses external employees, AI systems and account information to check users' messages, photos and videos.
WhatsApp and Facebook think there is a misunderstanding in the ProPublica report. In a statement, WhatsApp said that when users use the Report feature, messages are directly forwarded to Facebook but no privacy is violated because this process is similar to forwarding messages to other people and messages are no longer encrypted.
When using the Report feature, there will be new messages between users and moderators that are protected with end-to-end encryption. So moderators can still only read reported messages and WhatsApp emphasizes they can't read unreported messages.
"WhatsApp provides a way for people to report spam or abuse, which includes sharing the latest messages in chat," a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
"This feature is important to prevent the worst abuse on the internet. We strongly disagree with the idea that receiving reports that users send us is not compatible with end-to-end encryption."
