WhatsApp says in-app AI tools will still keep messages secret

WhatsApp is launching a new feature for the messaging platform that will ensure users’ messages remain private when being analyzed by AI tools, even if they are not kept within the app’s end-to-end encrypted protocol.

In a security engineering blog published Tuesday, the company previewed how its Private Processing feature will “enable users to initiate a request to a confidential and secure environment” where users can process messages using Meta AI without WhatsApp and Meta being able to access them.

The announcement comes amid ongoing public concerns about the ways in which AI service providers can access users’ interactions with their tools, potentially giving providers additional material to train their models.

“When launched in the coming weeks, Private Processing will allow users to leverage powerful optional AI features – like summarizing unread messages or editing help – while preserving WhatsApp’s core privacy promise,” the company said.

Beyond summarizing messages, it isn’t clear what the use cases are for accessing Meta AI, a text-generation tool, through WhatsApp — however, the engineering blog set out how the company will attempt to protect these uses.

Meta said it will be publishing “components of Private Processing, expanding the scope of our Bug Bounty program to include Private Processing, and releasing a detailed security engineering design paper” when the feature is launched.

While Meta has for years invested in artificial intelligence technologies — and talent, hiring some of the most celebrated names in the research field, including Yann LeCun and Vladimir Vapnik — it has not yet achieved the same kind of market impact as companies such as OpenAI.

The company is soliciting “feedback from the security and privacy community” on the Private Processing feature. 

“As a reminder, your personal messages and calls are always end-to-end encrypted by default — no one except you and the people you’re talking to can access or share your messages, not even Meta or WhatsApp,” they wrote.