The rising normalisation of artificial intelligence (AI) has also resulted in many areas of danger being exposed. Recently, WhatsApp has come under scrutiny after the founder of Paytm posted about how the messaging platform might be letting AI access users’ chats.
This is not the first time that matters of privacy and security have been raised with AI and how much access it is allowed, or what it is doing with the data it gathers, and whether all that data collection is being done ethically or not.
WhatsApp was previously also called out for its integration of Meta AI into the app, especially since users could not disable it if they didn’t want to use it.
What Did The Paytm Founder Say?
The morning of August 19, 2025, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma posted on his X/Twitter page about a new WhatsApp update and cautioned users against it. He wrote, “IMP If you are part of WhatsApp group. Today onwards WhatsApp is allowing ai to read chats. ‼️‼️ So enable this setting to block it.”
He then added screenshots that guided users on how to turn on the Advanced Chat Privacy option to prevent that from happening.
As per the image, this option would restrict people from saving media to their device gallery from a WhatsApp chat and disable AI features from being used, stating that one “Can’t use AI features like mentioning @Meta AI or summarizing unread messages.”
The catch here, though, is that there is no way to apply this setting to an entire WhatsApp account, and one must access each individual chat to turn on the option if they want the extra protection.
WhatsApp, of course, rushed to clarify against this, claiming that the Meta AI option is optional and that only what users share with it can be accessed; otherwise, the chats are safe.
A WhatsApp spokesperson speaking with ET also said, “Your personal messages on WhatsApp are always protected by end-to-end encryption so that only you and the people you chat with can read or share them. Meta AI on WhatsApp is completely optional and, if you choose to message or invoke Meta AI in your chats, it can only read what you share with it.”
Read More: AI Is Learning To Turn Against Us By Lying, Threatening, And Blackmailing Users
The official X/Twitter page of WhatsApp also responded to the post, writing, “As many commenters have already pointed out, this is not true. Meta AI on WhatsApp can only read what you choose to share with it (it does not have access to all your chats or contacts).
Meta AI is not ‘on’ until you choose to use it by messaging it directly or invoking it in an existing chat. Your personal messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning only you and the people you chat with can read or share them.”
Is This True?
This is reportedly related to a recent update of WhatsApp’s ‘Message Summaries,’ introduced on June 25, 2025, in the United States, allowing users to get quick recaps of unread chats using Meta AI. WhatsApp claims that these Private Processing features are optional and turned off by default.
WhatsApp’s website also states, “When unread messages start piling up, Meta AI can help quickly summarise them so you can jump right back into the conversation. Private Processing technology enables Meta AI to process your messages without Meta or WhatsApp being able to read them.”
Many netizens believe these updates to be Meta’s attempt to push AI into WhatsApp, especially since there is no real way to disable it entirely.
The Advanced Chat Privacy option was introduced by WhatsApp on April 23, 2025, as a way to prevent chat content from leaving the app. Several reports have confirmed, however, that the setting does not mean that AI has any form of prior access to chats.
An independent fact-check done by Snopes also noticed other similar posts like the one made by communications and sponsorship consultant James Melville on August 7, 2025. He wrote, “This message goes out to anyone who is in WhatsApp groups: As of today, AI is available on WhatsApp and therefore has access to all chats. You can enable the ‘advanced privacy’ option. Otherwise, AIs can open group messages, see phone numbers, and even retrieve personal information from your phone… even in private chats.”
The fact check also rated the claim that “A new AI feature on WhatsApp from Meta – the service’s parent company – allows the company default access to all chats sent on the app unless users enable an ‘advanced privacy’ option” as being false.
This is not the first time this claim has been debunked, though. A July 15, 2025, fact check done by Factly also said it was fake. It stated, “The Advanced Chat Privacy feature restricts the use of Meta AI by preventing others from using your messages with AI features, exporting chats, or auto-downloading media, but it does not control Meta AI’s access to chats or contacts, which are already protected. Any data scraping risks arise from malicious browser extensions, not from Meta AI or this feature. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.”
Another Quint fact check, done in July this year, concluded that “the viral claim about chats being vulnerable to Meta AI is misleading.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Economic Times, Factly, Business World
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: WhatsApp, WhatsApp chats, WhatsApp chats ai, WhatsApp chats ai scan, WhatsApp ai, WhatsApp paytm founder, WhatsApp chats paytm founder, meta ai, ai, artificial intelligence, whatsapp privacy, whatsapp update, paytm
Disclaimer: We do not hold any rights or copyright over any of the images used; these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly email us.
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