Former Meta Security Head Files Lawsuit Over WhatsApp Security Flaws

Meta’s former head of security for WhatsApp filed a lawsuit on Monday, alleging that the tech giant has been ignoring major security vulnerabilities on the platform. The whistleblower said the flaws put millions of users at risk.

According to the New York Times, the ex-employee Attaullah Baig filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming that Meta has actively avoided addressing critical security issues.

Baig says Meta employees can access users’ sensitive data, including location, contact list, and profile pictures. He added that during his time at Meta, he warned company leaders, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but was dismissed and later fired in February. Baig had joined the company in 2021.

“There are just so many harms that the users face,” said Baig in an interview with the New York Times last week. “This is about holding Meta accountable and putting the interests of users first.”

The whistleblower also warned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the critical vulnerabilities. Baig is being represented in court by the organization Psst.org, along with a team of lawyers.

A spokesperson from WhatsApp, Carl Woog, told the New York Times that the claims are not true. “Sadly, this is a familiar playbook in which a former employee is dismissed for poor performance and then goes public with distorted claims that misrepresent the ongoing hard work of our team,” said Woog. “Security is an adversarial space, and we pride ourselves in building on our strong record of protecting people’s privacy.”

Another organization, Whistleblower Aid, also filed a complaint against Meta, along with six employees, claiming that the social media platform violates child safety regulations. A few days ago, the tech giant was also accused of allowing chatbots to engage in sensual and inappropriate conversations with children.

Baig is not the only former Meta employee who openly and publicly accuses the company of wrongdoing. A few months ago, a former Facebook director, Sarah Wynn-Williams, accused Zuckerberg of power abuse and shared details in her memoir Careless People.