Former WhatsApp Security Chief Sues Meta Over Alleged Privacy, Security Failures

By Staff, Agencies

A former WhatsApp security engineer has filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of failing to protect user data, violating privacy regulations worldwide, and retaliating against him for whistleblowing to US authorities.

The complaint, filed Monday in San Francisco federal court, alleges that Attaullah Baig — who served as WhatsApp’s head of security — was fired in February after raising repeated concerns about weak safeguards, poor data access controls, and inadequate responses to account hijacking.

Baig claims WhatsApp breached a US Federal Trade Commission agreement requiring a robust security program, arguing that the platform lacked around-the-clock protection and failed to implement tools to swiftly recover stolen accounts.

He estimated in court filings that roughly 500,000 accounts are stolen every day, while WhatsApp neither discloses everything it collects from users nor effectively detects breaches.

He further alleged that as of 2022, WhatsApp had just 10 dedicated security engineers, while 1,500 engineers had access to certain protected data — far more than necessary and without reliable tracking of their activities.

Meta has denied the allegations. “This is a familiar playbook in which a former employee is dismissed for poor performance and then goes public with distorted claims,” Meta spokesman Carl Woog said, adding, “We pride ourselves on our strong record of protecting people’s privacy.”

Some of Baig’s claims mirror concerns raised in 2022 by former Twitter (now X) executive Peiter Zatko, who also accused his company of serious security failings and breaching its FTC commitments.