In addition to the false information prevailing in end-to-end encryption, a misleading report from the non-profit newsroom ProPublica recently questioned the integrity of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption. Metadata collection is certainly a concern for WhatsApp, but the report claims that WhatsApp reads messages with “extensive monitoring operations.”
WhatsApp reporting does not break end-to-end encryption
Like all other social platforms, WhatsApp has a content moderation team to review user reports. Each time a user reports a conversation, the last 5 messages are sent to WhatsApp for moderation.. In fact, this is clearly shown in the report popup, as shown in the image below.
In response to the report, a WhatsApp spokeswoman said:WhatsApp provides a way to report spam and abuse, including sharing the latest messages in chat. This feature is important to prevent the worst abuse on the Internet. Accepting reports that users choose to send strongly opposes the idea that they are incompatible with end-to-end encryption. “
Immediately after the WhatsApp statement, ProPublica updated the post to clarify the original report. “Previous versions of this story caused unintended confusion about whatsApp inspects the user’s message and whether it breaks the encryption that keeps the exchange secret. By changing the wording of the story, the user Clarified that we will only investigate messages from threads that have been reported to be fraudulent. We will not break end-to-end encryption. “ Read updates.
The purpose of the reporting feature is to avoid negative interactions on the platform, so message reporting does not break end-to-end encryption. For more information on WhatsApp’s security model, see A detailed comparison of WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.
