Google is said to have concluded a deal with Facebook that will allow access to WhatsApp data.
A lawsuit has now been filed.
The
Google group
is accused of having
negotiated
a deal with
Facebook
.
Allegedly, the Internet giant can
read
WhatsApp *
messages
.
The
Texas
Attorney General
finds clear words on
Twitter
.
Kassel -
A lawsuit was
recently
filed against
in the US state of
Texas
.
The company is accused of having made a piquant deal with
, which is supposed to
enable
access to the content of
users.
In the meantime, other
states
have joined
the allegations against the group.
A lawsuit against
states that after Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, an agreement was reached with
.
Allegedly, this agreement should make it possible for the group to have
access
to all messages from WhatsApp users - despite so-called
end-to-end encryption
.
This means that actually only the sender and recipient know the content.
Deal with Facebook?
Does Google have access to WhatsApp messages?
This includes not only simple
text messages
, but also audio files, videos and
photos
.
What is the point in these allegations, however, cannot be said at the current time.
In fact, end-to-end encrypted messages are usually not accessible at all.
However, this special type of
encryption
was only
introduced
by
in April 2016
and thus much later than the alleged Facebook deal with Google.
WhatsApp users can upload messages to Google Drive - lawyer is heavily criticized
According to
googlewatchblog.de
, shortly after the introduction of this
encryption
, a backup function was presented on
Google Drive
that enables
users to automatically and regularly upload their chats and media in just a few steps.
The
free service
also ensures that “these messages are transmitted unencrypted to Google Drive”.
According to the various US states, including
Indiana
,
Arkansas
and
Mississippi
,
is said to have
"repeatedly and outrageously
violated
competition and
consumer protection
laws".
The attorney general of Texas also finds clear words on Twitter about the deal with
and accuses the Internet giant of using its power to "destroy competition" and "harm consumers".
Does Google read WhatsApp?
Europe could be affected
The
Texas
lawsuit is 130 pages long, many of which have been blacked out.
Since internal company documents are examined in this case, this is not unusual.
One
can therefore only speculate
about the
details of
the alleged deal with
, including whether
Europe is
affected.
#BREAKING: Texas takes the lead once more!
Today, we're filing a lawsuit against #Google for anticompetitive conduct.
This internet Goliath uses its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition, and harm YOU, the consumer.
Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/fdEVEWQb0e
- Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) December 16, 2020
So
far, the claims only
refer to
data from US users.
It
currently remains uncertain
whether
might still have access to
news
and
media
from European users.
(Nail Akkoyun)
* hna.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
