A new class action lawsuit has been filed against Meta Platform Inc., WhatsApp and Accenture, alleging that the companies wrongfully intercepted and accessed private messages, despite marketing the platforms as “end-to-end encrypted.” However, plaintiff Brian Y. Shirazi and Nida Samson claim that WhatsApp’s privacy promises are misleading.
Whistleblowers reportedly informed federal investigators that Meta employees and third-party contractors had widespread access to the essence of messages that were considered inaccessible. The lawsuit argues that Meta and WhatsApp never asked for or received user consent to read, store, or share personal information with third parties.
The plaintiffs highlight that WhatsApp’s own marketing materials clearly state that “not even WhatsApp” can view individual messages, a move the lawsuit describes as deceptive.
“The whistleblowers informed federal investigators that Meta employees and third-party contractors had ‘widespread access to the essence of WhatsApp messages, which were encrypted and inaccessible,'” the class action lawsuit says.
“WhatsApp’s covert interception, reading, storing, accessing and/or viewing of messages it ensures Plaintiffs and similarly situated Class Members were privy to, without adequate disclosure to Plaintiffs and Class Members, is a serious violation of Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ privacy,” it added.
The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and significant financial recovery, including statutory, compensatory and punitive damages for all affected class members. They are also requesting injunctive relief to stop the alleged privacy violations. The filing follows other legal challenges to Meta; Just last month, the company was sued for allegedly facilitating a stock pump-and-dump scheme that cost investors millions in losses.
