A former WhatsApp security chief, Attaullah Baig, has sued Meta, accusing it of ignoring major flaws that exposed billions of users.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, alleges that around 1,500 engineers had unrestricted access to user data, potentially breaching a 2020 U.S. order that cost Meta $5 billion.

Baig also claims the company retaliated against him for raising concerns and terminate him in February 2025 for alleged “poor performance”.

The 115-page lawsuit also claims that Meta blocked security features in favour of user growth, impacting nearly 1 million WhatsApp users daily.

Meta strongly denied the allegations, calling them distorted claims from a former employee dismissed for poor performance.

WhatsApp’s VP of Communications, Carl Woog, defended Meta’s record, saying security is “an adversarial space” and the company prides itself on safeguarding privacy.