In 2016, WhatsApp announced it was using end-to-end encryption for all communications on its platform, covering everything from messages to file transfers. The use of end-to-end encryption is intended to offer users a level of privacy and security, but it seems that may not be true for the messaging app.
In a report by ProPublica, it is claimed WhatsApp employs more than 1,000 contract workers in Austin, Texas, Dublin, and Singapore, specifically for examining “millions of pieces of users’ content.” The workers “use special Facebook software” to look through messages and content that have been flagged by WhatsApp users, and have been screened by AI systems.
The reviews occur in spite of an assurance that appears in the app before users send messages for the first time, claiming “No one outside of this chat, not even WhatsApp, can read or listen to them.”
In 2018 testimony to the U.S. Senate, Facebook CEO Macrk Zuckerberg claimed “We don’t see any of the content in WhatsApp.”