WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart hits back at Elon Musk over app ‘not secure’ remark amid Meta privacy lawsuit
While Meta retracted claims that it could secretly read users’ private messages on WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, head of the messaging platform, described the claims as ‘completely false’.
Cathcart’s remarks were directly aimed at billionaire Elon Musk’s claims that WhatsApp is ‘not secure’ and that users should switch to X’s messaging service as a more secure communication alternative.
“This is completely false. WhatsApp cannot read messages because the encryption keys are stored on your phone and we do not have access to them,” Cathcart said in the X (formerly Twitter) post.
These harsh words from Meta and rival company executives come amid renewed scrutiny of message security on WhatsApp after an international group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Meta platforms on Monday. The lawsuit accused the company of making false privacy claims.
‘Headline is trying to sue’ – WhatsApp chief responds
The complaint makes serious allegations that Meta employees can access any user messages through an internet system; This means they can bypass encryption, which WhatsApp has marketed as a key privacy feature in recent years.
“This is a frivolous, headline-grabbing lawsuit filed by the same firm that defended NSO after its spyware attacked journalists and government officials,” Cathcart wrote to X.
A spokesperson for Meta had previously responded to the allegations, stating that the lawsuit was “frivolous” and announcing that the company would “take sanctions against the plaintiffs’ attorney.” Bloomberg reported.
According to WhatsApp, encrypted chats are enabled by default, with an in-app message stating that “only people in this chat can read, listen or share” messages sent between two or more people.
The conflict between Musk and Mark Zuckerberg
Elon Musk, owner of rival company X, has a long-running rivalry with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that includes business disputes over data applications, artificial intelligence and rockets.
The feud flared in September 2016 after a collaboration between the two billionaires did not go well, when Zuckerberg’s $200 million satellite exploded during a pre-launch test of one of Musk’s SpaceX rockets.
In his latest tweet regarding the Meta privacy controversy, Musk also questioned Signal, a privacy-focused app backed by whistleblowers like Edward Snowden. In a previous tweet, Snowden stated that he could vouch for the Signal application, that the application was safe and that he used the platform every day.
The case continues; industry experts, legal analysts and market observers are closely monitoring the progress as we await further updates and clarity on the next stages of the litigation.
