Iran Asks People to Delete WhatsApp, Alleges Secret Link to Israel

In a recent development on the Iran-Israel conflict, the Iranian state television has asked Iranians to delete WhatsApp from their phones, claiming that the chat app spies on users and provides data to Israel. They did not offer any evidence to back it up.

Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp has already fought back, calling the charges "false" and saying that it could be just a pretext to block the app again - especially when people need to stay connected the most. 

WhatsApp Insists It Does Not Snoop On Its Users 

WhatsApp, like on many occasions in the past, has once again reiterated that the data shared on the platform is end-to-end encrypted, which basically means jumbling up your messages so only you and the person you are chatting with can read them.  Not even WhatsApp can see what you are saying, it claims.  

WhatsApp said: " We do not track your precise location; we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging, and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another.”

What Experts Say

Some security experts have claimed that there are SSL-related security vulnerabilities in the app. This can basically allow any cyber attacker to insert themselves between two parties and weaken the connections, leading to breaking the encryption, and finally accessing the data. Some experts also believe that the metadata can be figured out. But that is not unique to WhatsApp - it's how most online services work. So why is Iran so mad?

Many believe that this is more about data control and politics than the concerns of eavesdropping. Some experts say that the move could be aimed at taking control of citizens’ data via WhatsApp.  Basically, the country aims to store data inside their borders, on their terms, and according to its standards. 

Iran has done this before to apps.  It stopped WhatsApp from working in 2022 during large protests and didn't lift the ban until late last year.  Most Iranians just use VPNs to get past it. That's why this unexpected change, which asks users to deactivate the app completely, seems like more than just a privacy issue. 

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