Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Meta-owned WhatsApp exported users’ data every night.
This accusation surfaced after a user on X, Mario Nawfal, claimed that WhatsApp transfers user data daily for analysis and targeted advertising, turning users into products rather than customers.
Musk responded on Saturday, affirming, “WhatsApp exports your user data every night,” and expressed disbelief that some people still consider the app secure.
Meta and WhatsApp are yet to address Musk’s claims.
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In a notable reply, computer programmer and video game developer John Carmack questioned the evidence behind Musk’s statement. Carmack acknowledged that while usage patterns and metadata might be collected, he believed that message contents remain secure by default unless a bot is invoked in the conversation.
The reply reads “Is there any evidence that the content of messages is ever scanned or transmitted? I assume usage patterns and routing metadata is collected, and if you invoke a bot in a conversation you are obviously opening it up, but I am still under the impression that the message contents are secure by default.”
