Neither messages, nor photographs: What data does WhatsApp retain a judicial requirement such as the case of the Attorney General? | Technology

WhatsApp instant messaging service, property owned, and Google have sent the magistrate of the Supreme Court Ángel Hurtado, investigation instructor opened by revelation of secrets to the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, Information about the mobile investigated. The content of his device was deleted, so the Supreme Court raised to technological a request to recover the information sent and received by the telephone numbers of the Attorney General between March 8 and 14, 2024, Dates on which González Amador’s lawyer was leaked in which he admitted that his client had committed two fiscal crimes and offered to the Prosecutor’s Office a pact that would fib them from jail.

What type of information can contain those folders? Are the messages we send through WhatsApp? And the photos or files we exchanged with our contacts? Are WhatsApp or other companies to provide such information? We clear these and other doubts.

Can WhatsApp provide data on my messages, photos or files sent?

« WhatsApp does not dissemin Terms and conditions of use. It cannot, because communications are encrypted from end to end. That is: every time we send something to a contact, the content of that communication is codified and a key that only the recipient obtains is generated. The service provider itself, in this case WhatsApp (Meta), cannot access it.

Therefore, the messages, photos and other files that are sent through encrypted services will be only held by the issuer and the receiver of those communications.

What data does WhatsApp about a user?

Although the encrypted communications content is inaccessible for third parties, WhatsApp does have valuable information: the so -called metadata. WhatsApp does not know what you have sent to your friend, but when you have done it, with what phone numbers you have communicated, how many times you have established contact with whom, from what type of device, how much the messages weighed (which allows to infer if they contained attachments and even what type) and the type of communication (text or called).

In addition to the metadata, WhatsApp can also provide the authorities with user data: “Basic information of the subscriber (such as its name, starting date of the service, date of last time it was used, IP address, type of device and email address) and account information (such as profile photos, group information and contact list)”, according to the company’s website.

So, isn’t there a way they access my messages?

Technically, there is. And there enters Google, whom the Supreme also requested information about García Ortiz. « When you activate the copy of Backup From WhatsApp, the copy is made in the Google account configured in your Android in Claro (without encrypting). For a few years, the option to encrypt the file of Backup. But, by default, that copy is clear, ”explains Jorge García Herrero, a lawyer specialized in data protection. In the case of the iPhone, the data is encrypted before getting on Icloud, Apple’s cloud, so they are inaccessible.

« If the trade has been sent to Google, it is assumed that the investigated is an Android user, » adventures this expert on the case of the State Attorney General. Therefore, if you have not chosen to encrypt your backup, your communications may be available for consultation.

What happens if I erase my messages or my Google account? Is it still recoverable?

Anyone can erase WhatsApp messages exchanged with another user. Or even the history of conversations held with all its contacts, as did the State Attorney General. These messages will stop appearing on the mobile, but do not fade. The data will continue to be housed on the platform servers for a prudential time. It is recommended, says García Herrero, is to keep them for four years not to catch his fingers with judicial requests such as the case of García Ortiz.

The same thing happens if one decides to delete his Google account, to which the backup copy of his WhatsApp is related, as did the State Attorney General. These data are not destroyed at the time of suppressing the account.

What only Google knows (and now also the Supreme) is what contains García Ortiz’s account. With backup copies you can establish parallelism with the security cameras tapes, which overwritten the latest recordings on the oldest. What contains your account will depend on how intensive the use you have made as WhatsApp.

The emails sent from a Gmail account are also encrypted, and the user can graduate the type of protection he wants to grant to his emails. But, as in WhatsApp, you could reach them through backups. Even to deleted messages, if there are, as it can supposedly occur with the attorney general.

Are Meta and Google forced to answer the supreme requirements?

« WhatsApp, such as Google and any other Spanish or foreign company, has to meet the requests for information from a competent Spanish court, » says García Herrero. « You can only deny if the requirement is notoriously excessive, not based or disproportionate. »

However, processes can be expanded over time. « They must collaborate, but sometimes they don’t, or do it late and badly, » says Borja Adsuara, expert in digital law. « From the US matrix, technological ones often did not answer, but since the General Data Protection Regulation forced them to have delegation in the EU, they do usually answer, » he adds.