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 does not have access to messages and that these messages are circulated encrypted within the service.
A recent report showed that, after all, WhatsApp can read users’ messages in certain situations. This situation can be complicated and unwelcome, but Facebook has already said that this behavior is not an issue.
ProPublica's post was just that Reality revealed Many did not know it, and in fact, they probably did not want to. Facebook has (huge) teams that are constantly evaluating WhatsApp users' messages.
This scenario is happening in some places around the planet, where more than a thousand residents are quickly analyzing the messages being reported. Thus, these workers have random access to the user's messages, without being censored.
So, it has been revealed, even with supposedly encrypted messages, Facebook can access them. To make matters worse, these messages are not only read by evaluators but also pass through artificial intelligence and automatic assessment systems.
Faced with this situation, which goes against the previously mentioned indications, Facebook has already reacted and explained. According to the social network, this is completely normal and acceptable behavior for this service and for the evaluation of situations reported by users.
Posting the last 5 messages is voluntary, and is announced and made clear to users before this process happens and with the idea of helping with complaints. In addition to these messages, Facebook also receives the previous four messages, to put the complaints in context.
Facebook is not innocent in this case, and this WhatsApp situation is an excellent example. The social network can access these messages, even if they are (presumably) encrypted and protected. Of course, as I explained, the goal is to help and protect users.
