Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., on Thursday, alleging the messaging app misleads users about its security features.
The lawsuit accuses the companies of deceptive trade practices by telling users their messages on WhatsApp are securely encrypted while allegedly maintaining access to virtually all private communications.
The lawsuit seeks to bar Meta and WhatsApp from accessing Texans’ WhatsApp messages without their consent, as well as impose monetary penalties.
Paxton cited news reports of a federal investigation and a whistleblower report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Texans deserve to know whether their private communications are indeed truly private,” Paxton said in a statement on May 21. “WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, but it does not deliver on those promises. I am suing to protect Texans’ privacy and ensure that WhatsApp by Meta does not mislead Texans by unlawfully accessing private conversations and data.”…