Is WhatsApp Safe for Sending Private Photos?
As of 2024, 2.96 billion unique WhatsApp users are trusting the messaging service to send chats, videos, and photos with WhatsApp. However, due to its parent company, Meta, many wonder: is WhatsApp safe for sending private photos?
Security and privacy are totally different when it comes to protecting the data of your files and private photos with others.
As a result, we will examine what makes WhatsApp a secure messaging platform but also the potential flaws in the privacy of its service, important things to note from WhatsApp’s privacy policy, and an alternative method to sending photos privately.
Table of contents
- Is WhatsApp safe from hackers and data breaches?
- WhatsApp Privacy
- WhatsApp and Meta privacy
- How to strengthen your privacy on WhatsApp
- Alternatives to WhatsApp to send photos privately
Is WhatsApp safe from hackers and data breaches?
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, the same encryption Internxt uses for everything, to encrypt files and messages on your device until they arrive on your recipient’s phone. Despite this, WhatsApp has been the victim of numerous data breaches in the past, the most significant of which being:
2023
487 million WhatsApp were posted on a hacking forum selling a 2022 database of phone numbers, vishing or smishing attacks.
2024
Security researchers found that WhatsApp assigns unique, persistent identity keys to devices linked to an account, varying by platform. Android uses a 32-character ID, iPhone a 20-character prefix with four extra characters, and Windows an 18-character ID.
These differences allow attackers to identify a user’s operating system, enabling targeted malware delivery. While not critical, knowing the OS is crucial for exploiting specific vulnerabilities.
Since Meta bought WhatsApp in 2014, its software has become closed-source and is not subject to auditing, so nobody truly knows what is happening behind closed doors and if Meta has ways of accessing your data without you knowing.
WhatsApp Privacy
While end-to-end encryption is the best method to secure your files, the issue to consider when asking yourself is WhatsApp safe for sending private photos is the data behind your message, known as metadata.
This metadata can include:
- Account Information
- Device Information
- Usage Information
- Contact Information
- Connection Information
- Location Information
- Payment Data
- Cookies and Similar Technologies
While there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with this, WhatsApp needs these logs to ensure the message is delivered correctly, analyze traffic, and monitor and correct potential issues.
The main issue is who WhatsApp shares this information with, Meta.
WhatsApp and Meta privacy
While WhatsApp protects your photos with end-to-end encryption, the potential issue is that, by extension, Meta is aware of the messages you send and the recipients. Secondly, since 2016, WhatsApp collects and adds the following data to your profile:
- Your WhatsApp phone number
- Your profile name
- Your profile picture
- Your status message
- A timestamp from when you were last online
- Diagnostic data collected from app logs
Finally, Meta may use the information it takes from WhatsApp to help it operate and generate revenue from your data to target you with ads and market its services or other Facebook products.
The danger of this form of data collection doesn’t stop at WhatsApp. Other Meta-owned brands, Messenger, Instagram, Oculus, Portal-branded devices, Facebook Shops, and Spark AR Studio, all have their policies for data collection and use, so, when combined, the amount of personal data Meta could potentially have on you is huge.
How to strengthen your privacy on WhatsApp
Aside from choosing a secure way to send photos, such as using Internxt Drive or Send, another option for extra security when using WhatsApp is encrypting and backing up your chats. This protects your messages and ensures that your conversations or photos remain secure and only accessible to you.
An additional benefit of encrypted backups is that they protect your photos and data from hackers, breaches, and Meta to prevent unauthorized surveillance of your private messages.
Here’s how to encrypt to turn on end-to-end encrypted backups with WhatsApp:
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap End-to-end encrypted backup.
- Tap Turn on, then follow the prompts to create a password or use your 64-digit encryption key.
- Tap Create or Generate.
To turn off encrypted backups, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap End-to-end encrypted backup.
- Tap Turn off, then follow the prompts to create a password or use your 64-digit encryption key.
- Tap Turn off again to confirm.
For many people who want to know is WhatsApp safe for sending photos, they will look for alternative methods to send pictures privately due to the untrustworthiness of Meta and, by extension, its family.
Next are some alternatives to WhatsApp to consider if you want to ensure your privacy when sending photos online.
Alternatives to WhatsApp to send photos privately
If you need to share photos securely or are looking for a messaging service that values your privacy, the following options will suit your needs as an alternative to WhatsApp.
First, we will cover how to encrypt and send photos privately without the risk of third parties spying or collecting your data.
Internxt Drive
Internxt Drive is a GDPR-compliant cloud storage system that uses zero-knowledge policies to encrypt files on your device to prevent hacking, data breaches, and data collection.
With Drive, you can store your photos in a private cloud platform and share and restrict access to photos so you have complete control over who can view and access them.
When sharing files or folders with Internxt, you can invite people via email or a secure link and protect it with a password to prevent unauthorized access. You can stop others from accessing your file from the Drive dashboard at any time, giving you complete control over who has access to your folders.
While many will want to consider is WhatsApp safe for sending photos, Internxt doesn’t have this problem, as it is fully open-source, has security auditing, and uses award-winning encryption to guarantee the privacy of its users.
Internxt Send
The second option to share photos privately is Internxt Send. Send is a free service allowing you to send up to 5GB of files for free. It uses the same end-to-end encryption as all of Internxt’s products, and you can choose to send your files via a secure link or email.
Messaging alternatives to WhatsApp
Despite the billions of users WhatsApp has, it's not the only private messaging service available. Few messaging apps offer complete privacy, and despite the popularity of apps such as Telegram, the problem is that not all messages are end-to-end encrypted by default; you have to turn this on in the settings.
For this reason, we will cover other alternative private messaging services for sending photos, messages, videos, and more.
Signal
Signal is an open source end-to-end encrypted platform, so your messages are kept private, and tech-savvy users can verify the source code of Signal to verify that their data is kept secure and isn’t shared with external parties.
Other valuable features of Signal include:
- One-time viewable messages: send photos or videos that can only be viewed once.
- Screen security: hides the signal preview when switching between apps to hide your interface.
- Stop descriptive notifications: hide the information from messages you receive for increased privacy.
- Face ID: require Face ID to prevent others from entering the app and viewing your messages.
- Self-disappearing messages: messages you send will disappear at any time between 5 seconds or 1 week.
- Incognito keyboard: another amazing privacy feature you can activate is the incognito keyboard, which stops Signal from recording your keyboard activity.
There are also more privacy features packed into Signal for you to discover, so anyone who asks themselves is WhatsApp safe for sending photos but isn’t 100% sure, then Signal may be a better option for you due to the privacy controls and features it offers.
Threema
One of the greatest features Threema offers for full privacy and anonymity is that you can have an account without entering personal information. Instead of a phone number, Threema provides an ID consisting of a randomly generated eight-digit string as your unique identifier.
Like Signal and Internxt, Threema is also open-source and GDPR compliant, and unlike WhatsApp, it doesn’t log IP addresses or metadata.
Threema is also based in Switzerland, a company famous for its strict privacy laws, similar to European companies. Like Internxt, its platform has been audited and passed for security.
Switching to a life of privacy for photo sharing and messaging
So, is WhatsApp safe for sending private photos? Yes, but there are safer ways to send private photos that keep your data as far away from Big Tech companies, such as Meta, as possible.
For encrypted file sharing online for your folders protected by zero-knowledge encryption, Internxt Drive and Send offer guaranteed protection for your photos. Internxt also offers Family plans, so if you want to share your photos with friends and family, Internxt provides the perfect platform.
For your messaging needs, Signal and Threema offer increased privacy controls and encrypted open-source options to send photos privately without the risk of external companies spying on your data.
For even more options, you can check out our other article, which offers seven secure and private messenger apps.
Whichever messaging apps you choose, combine them with Internxt Drive, Send, and VPN for a fully private experience online.