Millions of people worldwide trust WhatsApp to protect their communication. But now, Elon Musk has set his sights on the end-to-end encrypted direct messaging app, claiming that it exports all of our user data every night in a major privacy breach.

So, is WhatsApp harvesting your data each night? Or can you trust it with your data?

What Did Elon Musk Say About WhatsApp User Data?

Musk took a direct swipe at WhatsApp, claiming that the secure messenger “exports your data every night,” insinuating that it has undisclosed privacy issues more folks should be aware of.

WhatsApp can be set to backup your data locally or to a Google Drive each night. However, Musk was referring to the metadata WhatsApp captures, which is sent to its infamously privacy-unfriendly parent company, Meta.

These activities are already known, and the former is nothing to worry about. Meta’s metadata collection is more of an issue, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Does WhatsApp Export Your User Data Each Night?

Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp’s development and strategy, launched a strong defense, refuting Musk’s claims.

Cathcart’s response was as expected, confirming that WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption to secure messages and that neither itself nor Meta can read any messages.

However, Cathcart’s response didn’t get into the nuts and bolts of WhatsApp’s metadata collection on its users, which is more likely what Musk is getting at.

Is Elon Musk Right About WhatsApp?

Musk’s general statement is accurate. WhatsApp does upload your metadata for collection—it’s written directly intoWhatsApp’s FAQson how WhatsApp works with other Meta companies.

The information we share with the other Meta Companies includes your account registration information (such as your phone number), transaction data (for example, if you use Facebook Pay), service-related information, information on how you interact with businesses when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address, and may include other information identified in the Privacy Policy section entitled ‘Information We Collect’ or obtained upon notice to you or based on your consent.

WhatsApp’s metadata collection is one of its known privacy issues; how much you’re worried about metadata collection and analysis is a personal decision.

Meta’s Chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, also lept into the debate to defend WhatsApp’s data collection, but similarly didn’t address the issues of metadata collection.

Realistically, user data isn’t only messages, and it would be disingenuous to present it as such. User metadata is an equally valuable source of information on a user, especially if it contains enough identifying information to help build a broad picture of user location, contacts, times of communication, patterns of usage, and so on.

Although Musk didn’t provide much further information, he later liked anX posted by security researcher Tommy Myskexplaining more on WhatsApp’s user data and metadata collection, adding the “bullseye” emoji.

WhatsApp’s Privacy Issues Explained

I’ve been using WhatsApp for more than a decade. It’s the go-to app for direct communication in the UK and most of Europe. It’s less popular in the US, where Apple Messages reign supreme, but for most of the world, WhatsApp is number one.

Despite its usefulness, WhatsApp isn’t without issue. For starters, the metadata privacy issue discussed above. Elon Musk is far from the first person to talk about this, but it’s worthremembering all of the information WhatsApp does collect.

Meta is far from the most trustworthy company, and the amount of data shared between WhatsApp and its parent company is a huge concern. So, while there is no evidence that WhatsApp reads your end-to-end encrypted messages, the shared metadata helps monetize WhatsApp (and keeps it a free service for most users).

Another issue is unencrypted backups. You can set WhatsApp to back up your local device or a cloud service (Apple iCloud or Google Drive, depending on your device), yet the backup remains unencrypted. It’s a security issue that could be resolved, yet it has remained the same for years.

Most folks are also unaware of the differences between messaging your friends and family versus messaging a business. WhatsApp Business Account users share more information with WhatsApp (and Meta), and messages aren’t encrypted by default. The combination means you could be giving more information away than you realize, but there is no onus on WhatsApp Business Account users to make this clear.

With all that said, I’m not telling you toditch WhatsApp for Signal, even though it’s more secure. We stick with the messaging app where our communities gather, and attempting to push established groups is difficult—even after explaining privacy issues.

The most you’re able to realistically do ismake WhatsApp more privateand hope some folks join you on a more private messaging platform in the future.