Iran Accuses WhatsApp, Instagram Of Sharing Private Data With Israel

Iranian state media have recently urged its citizens to delete WhatsApp and Instagram, claiming that these Meta-owned platforms are collecting user data and sharing it with Israel.

Iranian state television has explicitly stated that WhatsApp and Instagram are gathering user information, including location and potentially private content, and transmitting it to Israel. Importantly, the Iranian state media reports have not offered any specific evidence to substantiate these claims.

These allegations are being made in the context of escalating military conflict and a reported “near-total national Internet blackout” in Iran, according to internet governance monitors like NetBlocks. This suggests a potential intent to control information flow and communication channels during a critical period. WhatsApp, through a spokesperson, has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “false.”

The company emphasized that all messages sent on WhatsApp are “end-to-end encrypted.” This means that only the sender and the recipient can access the content of their messages, and not even WhatsApp itself can read them. WhatsApp also stated that it does not track users’ precise locations, keep logs of who everyone is messaging, or track personal messages.

The company explicitly clarified that it does not provide “bulk information to any government.” WhatsApp expressed concern that these “false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most,” suggesting a fear that the Iranian government might use these claims as a pretext for a wider ban.

Iran has a history of restricting access to various social media and messaging applications, including Instagram, Telegram, and X (formerly Twitter). Despite these restrictions, many Iranians use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to circumvent the blocks.

WhatsApp and Google Play were previously banned by the Iranian government in 2022 during nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. These restrictions were reportedly lifted in late 2023. While end-to-end encryption protects message content, some cybersecurity experts, like Gregory Falco from Cornell University, have pointed out that metadata (information about who messaged whom, when, and for how long) is not encrypted and can be understood, which could still be revealing.

It’s worth noting that Meta (WhatsApp’s parent company) has previously alleged that journalists and other WhatsApp users were targeted by spyware from Israeli spyware makers, such as Paragon Solutions and NSO Group (developer of Pegasus spyware). However, these incidents typically involve targeted attacks exploiting vulnerabilities, not a general policy of sharing all user data. WhatsApp has actively pursued legal action against such companies.