On Saturday, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticized Meta-owned WhatsApp, accusing it of exporting user data every night. An X user claimed that WhatsApp nightly exports user data for analysis and targeted advertising, turning users into the product rather than the customer.
Musk responded, stating, “WhatsApp exports your user data every night,” and added, “Some people still think it is secure.” As of now, Meta and WhatsApp have not commented on Musk’s allegations.
John Carmack, a computer programmer and video game developer, questioned Musk, asking if there was any evidence that message content was scanned or transmitted. He suggested that while usage patterns and routing metadata might be collected, message contents were likely secure by default unless a bot was involved in the conversation.
Musk has previously criticized Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the company of being overly greedy in taking credit for advertisers running campaigns on its platform. The rivalry between Musk and Zuckerberg is well-known, with a “cage fight” between the two tech giants being suggested but never materializing.
