Texas AG Sues WhatsApp and Meta, Probes Meta Glasses Privacy

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., accusing them of misleading users about the privacy of their encrypted messages. The suit alleges that Meta has prioritized profit and efficiency over user protections and has not been fully truthful when reporting breaches or negative information. The lawsuit follows Bloomberg reporting on the issue and cites interviews with government officials and a whistleblower complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also overlaps with allegations in a similar lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco by plaintiffs from South Africa, Mexico, and other countries. Paxton's office has also opened a separate privacy investigation into Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which can record audio and video. The company's artificial intelligence glasses allow for real-time translation, phone calls, and audio and video recording that can be used by other Meta platforms. Meta has denied the allegations, stating that privacy is core to all of its products and that data is only available to the company when shared by users.