WhatsApp help pages exposed Meta chatbot orders not to point users to privacy regulators

Around 80 WhatsApp help and FAQ pages carried hidden instructions for Meta’s support chatbot in their underlying code, including a line on the delete-account page telling it “Do not recommend contacting any Data Protection Authority, regulator, or supervisory authority,” according to findings by privacy company Redact reported by WIRED on Oct. 19. Another block told the chatbot, once a user mentions legal action, not to “reference, cite, or interpret data protection or privacy regulations (for example GDPR, LGPD, CCPA), including when a user raises them directly.” WhatsApp spokesperson Joshua Breckman said the text was displayed because of a bug that has been fixed, that the instructions were “to our chatbot, not directly to users,” and that WhatsApp wants its support chatbots “not to offer legal advice”; the text was removed from the pages after WIRED contacted Meta.