<body><p>STORY: Texas is suing WhatsApp and parent firm Meta.</p><p>The state says they misled consumers over the messaging app’s encryption and privacy standards.</p><p>In a statement Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said “WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, but it does not deliver on those promises”.</p><p>The lawsuit says users are given false assurance that their messages are encrypted, even though Meta and WhatsApp have access to “virtually all” private communications on the app.</p><p>A Meta spokesman called the allegations “false”, and said that WhatsApp cannot access people’s encrypted messages.</p><p>The suit seeks a court order barring access to Texans’ communications without their consent.</p><p>It also demands monetary penalties.</p><p>The legal action cites reports about a federal probe into claims that Meta had access to unencrypted WhatsApp messages.</p><p>It also refers to a whistleblower report to U.S. financial watchdogs.</p><p>Paxton’s office has previously filed similar claims against big companies, including one against Google.</p><p>Last year the search giant agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle claims that it violated users’ data privacy.</p></body>
