
Facebook Is Spying on 2 Billion WhatsApp Users
When Facebook acquired WhatsApp, it promised to respect the privacy of its users. That hasn’t been the case, and the firm now employs thousands of staff to read supposedly-encrypted chats.
Social media behemoth Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg promising to keep the stripped-down, ad-free messaging app “exactly the same.”
End-to-end encryption was introduced in 2016, with the app itself offering on-screen assurances to users that “No one outside of this chat” can read their communications, and Zuckerberg himself telling the US Senate in 2018 that “We don’t see any of the content in WhatsApp.”
SEE ALSO…Irish data privacy watchdog dishes out record €225mn fine to WhatsApp
Allegedly, none of that is true. More than a thousand content moderators are employed at shared Facebook/WhatsApp offices in Austin, Texas, Dublin, Ireland, and Singapore to sift through messages reported by users and flagged by artificial intelligence.

WhatsApp to Share your Personal Data With Facebook
Based on internal documents, interviews with moderators, and a whistleblower complaint, ProPublica explained how the system works in a lengthy investigation published on Wednesday.


![Indian farmers from various unions organised a huge gathering demanding a withdrawal of the agricultural laws introduced by the government a year ago. [Rajat Gupta/EPA]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/h_57153481-1.jpg?resize=1170%2C780)
![More than 500,000 farmers attended the rally in the city of Muzaffarnagar, according to local police. [Mayank Makhija/AP Photo]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP21248399144694.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)
![Farmers and union leaders reaffirmed at the gathering that they would fight for their rights and continue their sit-in along major highways into New Delhi until the legislation is revoked. [Rajat Gupta/EPA]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/h_57153512.jpg?fit=1170%2C789)
![Indian farmers and their supporters belonging to various farmers unions attend a farmers' protest in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. [Rajat Gupta/EPA]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/h_57154245.jpg?fit=1170%2C715)
![Farmers say laws passed by parliament last year will hurt their livelihoods and leave them with scant bargaining power against big private retailers and food processors. [Mayank Makhija/AP Photo]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP21248399142510.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)

