Three Senate Republicans are seeking answers from Meta Platforms, Inc., about claims by whistleblowers, including a former head of security at Meta’s WhatsApp platform, that Meta’s data protection practices are deeply flawed and might violate a privacy settlement Meta reached with the Federal Trade Commission in 2020.
The former WhatsApp security chief, Attaullah Baig, alleged in a lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that thousands of WhatsApp and Meta employees could gain access to sensitive user data including profile pictures, location, group memberships, and contact lists.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) wrote a letter yesterday to Meta Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg seeking a response to the allegations.
They cited whistleblower claims that, as of February 2025, “87,599 employees across Meta and its platforms have access to WhatsApp user ‘Device Information,’ 41,225 employees across Meta and its platforms have access to WhatsApp user ‘Phone Number[s],’ and 40,332 employees across Meta and its platforms have access to WhatsApp user ‘Email Address[es].’”
“It’s been alleged to Chairman Grassley’s office that this type and volume of access may violate a 2020 FTC Consent Order where Meta was required to impose restrictions on how the company and its subsidiaries, to include WhatsApp, handle this type of information,”...
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