It's crucial to understand the precise scope of E2EE:

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What E2EE Protects (and What It Doesn't):


Protects Message Content: The text of messages, images, videos, voice messages, documents, and the audio/video of calls exchanged between individual users and in group chats are all protected by E2EE.

Does NOT Protect Metadata: E2EE does not cover metadata – data about your communications. This includes who you are messaging, when, how often, the duration of calls, your online/offline status, your IP address (which can infer general location), device information, and details about your usage of the app's features. This metadata is the primary focus of WhatsApp's data iceland phone number list collection for operational and business purposes.

Business Communications (Conditional E2EE): This is a key area of nuance and past controversy. While messages to businesses are E2EE up to the point they reach the business's systems, if a business chooses to use Meta's hosting services (or other third-party providers) to manage its WhatsApp communications, then once decrypted on the business's server, the content of these messages becomes accessible to the business and its chosen service providers (including Meta, if providing hosting). This distinction was a major point of clarification in the 2021 privacy policy update, as it means message content with businesses is not always private from Meta after it reaches the business's environment.