A U.S. government investigation into WhatsApp’s privacy claims abruptly stopped when incriminating evidence against WhatsApp surfaced.
The investigation began after a November 2024 whistleblower complaint submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The inquiry was carried out through 2025 by a special agent from the Bureau of Industry and Security, specifically within its Office of Export Enforcement.
Over roughly 10 months, the agent gathered documents and conducted interviews to examine allegations that Meta Platforms Inc. could access supposedly encrypted WhatsApp messages. He confirmed that Meta can indeed view WhatsApp messages at any time, despite bold claims of end-to-end encryption.
Meta markets WhatsApp as a private app with end-to-end encryption, which, according to their website, means “no one outside of the chat, not even WhatsApp, can read, listen to, or share” any messages.
He further added that Meta “can and does view and store” messages, including text messages, photographs, audio, and video recordings in unencrypted form.
He described that Meta is operating a “tiered permissions system,” which allows different individuals varying levels of access to WhatsApp content. According to the findings referenced in the investigation, this access was granted not only to internal staff but also to contractors, including a significant number of overseas workers based in India.
Separately, two individuals interviewed by the investigator said they had broad access to WhatsApp messages while performing content moderation work for Meta. As previously reported by Bloomberg , citing other records from the investigation, this work was carried out under a contract with Accenture Plc.
Shortly after that email was circulated, the investigation was abruptly shut down in early 2026, according to people familiar with the matter. The closure was described as sudden and was reportedly carried out at the direction of senior agency leadership, just as the agent was attempting to coordinate broader interagency involvement.
The case ended without public findings or follow-up action, leaving unresolved questions about both the agent’s evidence and why the probe, internally referred to as “Operation Sourced Encryption”, was halted so quickly.
Meanwhile, Meta has strongly denied the claims, maintaining that WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption prevents the company from accessing user messages.
In an earlier case, the Federal Trade Commission fined Meta $5 billion in 2019 over allegations that the company violated privacy rules. The agency also assumed responsibility for overseeing Meta’s privacy practices. These violations did not involve WhatsApp. Meta has since issued multiple apologies regarding its handling of user data and has appointed a chief privacy officer.
Source: Bloomberg
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