WhatsApp can read encrypted messages, but Facebook says that’s ok

Security and privacy issues on WhatsApp and Facebook have a long history of very negative issues. The largest social network has insisted for several years that it has no access to messages and that they are distributed encrypted within the service.

A recent report showed that, after all, WhatsApp can even read user messages in certain situations. This situation can be difficult and undesirable, but Facebook has already said that this behavior does not cause any problems.

ProPublica Edition showed reality which many did not know and did not even want to know about. There are (huge) teams on Facebook that are constantly evaluating messages from WhatsApp users.

This scenario occurs in some places around the planet, where over a thousand evaluators are rapidly analyzing the reported messages. Thus, these workers have unrestricted access to user messages without any control.

So, judging by what was discovered, even with supposedly encrypted messages, Facebook has access to them. To make matters worse, these messages are not only read by the evaluators, but also go through artificial intelligence and automatic grading systems.

Faced with this situation, which contradicts the previously stated testimony, Facebook has already reacted and explained. According to the social network, this is normal and perfectly acceptable behavior for this service and for assessing situations that users report.

Submitting the last 5 messages is voluntary, announced and explained to users before this process begins, and to help with complaints. In addition to these posts, Facebook also receives 4 previous posts to contextualize the complaints.

In this case, Facebook is far from innocent, and the WhatsApp situation is a perfect example. The social network has access to these messages even if they are (presumably) encrypted and secure. Of course, as you've shown, the goal is to help and protect users.