A widely shared message is causing a stir. It claims that WhatsApp’s Meta AI can access all chats and retrieve personal data. Media investigations have shown that this warning is false.
Time and again, internet users share chain letters without verifying them. In the latest one, WhatsApp group administrators are urged to enable “enhanced privacy.” If they don’t, the AI could “open group messages, see phone numbers, and even retrieve personal data from your phone, including private chats,” according to the false warning.
Encryption protects chats
Neither WhatsApp nor Meta AI can read private messages. This is confirmed by WhatsApp and the German data protection authority BfDI. Chats are end-to-end encrypted. This means that only the chat participants can access the messages. “Your messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status updates, calls, and live location are protected by end-to-end encryption, so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.” That’s what the WhatsApp Messenger guidelines say.
Meta AI can be disabled in the chat
The Meta AI chatbot only processes content when users actively ask it a question or request a summary. No information from chats is forwarded to the AI. Generally, Meta AI cannot be turned off. However, there is a way to disable it in chats: enabling enhanced privacy for all chats—whether private or in groups. Then, no one can involve the chatbot or export chats. Photos, audio files, and videos are no longer automatically saved to the device’s gallery.
Further information:
https://www.antenne.de/experten-tipps/technik/whatsapp-kettenbrief-warnung-vor-ki-zugriff-was-steckt-dahinter
https://www.zdfheute.de/panorama/whatsapp-kettenbrief-meta-ki-datenschutz-100.html
WhatsApp’s encryption policy:
https://faq.whatsapp.com/820124435853543/
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