A federal agent said WhatsApp's encryption is a lie. Then the investigation was shut down

A U.S. Commerce Department agent spent about 10 months probing whether WhatsApp content could be accessed despite end-to-end encryption.

The agent later emailed that Meta or its contractors may have broad access to unencrypted text, photos, audio, and video.

The Bureau of Industry and Security then abruptly closed the investigation.

The case raises fresh questions about how much privacy WhatsApp actually provides and what access the platform or contractors may have to user messages.