If you report the message it then the full text gets sent to WhatsApp.
That means there’s a software switch that dumps a plaintext copy of a supposedly encrypted message when flipped.
Therefore, all you need to read any WhatsApp message is the ability to flag the message as “reported”, and access to wherever the plaintext copies get sent.
Considering how often security is an afterthought for corporations, the access part is probably easy.
The easiest implementation of this is that the recipient of an infringing message flags it from its local client. At that point it’s not encrypted if their claim of e2ee is true.
It also means that only parties involved in the message exchange can flag / report them.
Corporations are often not so monolithic ; the guys doing abuse are likely not the one who try to milk users (looking at you marketing).
If this is true:
That means there’s a software switch that dumps a plaintext copy of a supposedly encrypted message when flipped.
Therefore, all you need to read any WhatsApp message is the ability to flag the message as “reported”, and access to wherever the plaintext copies get sent.
Considering how often security is an afterthought for corporations, the access part is probably easy.
The easiest implementation of this is that the recipient of an infringing message flags it from its local client. At that point it’s not encrypted if their claim of e2ee is true.
It also means that only parties involved in the message exchange can flag / report them.
Corporations are often not so monolithic ; the guys doing abuse are likely not the one who try to milk users (looking at you marketing).