Who Is Attaullah Baig? Ex-Whatsapp Security Head Who Sued Meta Over Alleged Privacy Lapses

(MENAFN- Live Mint) An Indian-origin cybersecurity professional who once led WhatsApp's security team has taken Meta to court, accusing the company of ignoring major privacy vulnerabilities and retaliating against him for flagging the risks.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, comes from Attaullah Baig, who joined WhatsApp as head of security in 2021. In his complaint, Baig claims that his warnings about“systemic cybersecurity failures” at the messaging giant were brushed aside, and that his attempts to escalate the matter internally ultimately cost him his job.

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According to the lawsuit, Baig discovered during a routine security test that nearly 1,500 WhatsApp engineers had“unrestricted access” to user data, including sensitive personal information. He alleges that the lack of proper audit trails meant employees could“move or steal such data without detection”, potentially leaving WhatsApp in violation of federal law and a 2020 privacy settlement Meta reached with the US Federal Trade Commission.

The complaint further claims that after Baig's initial disclosures, he began receiving poor performance reviews and was subjected to what he describes as a campaign of retaliation. He also lodged complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), alleging both retaliation and compliance failures.

Baig was eventually terminated in February this year, officially as part of a round of layoffs.

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Meta has strongly rejected Baig's claims. A company spokesperson told CNBC:“Sadly this is a familiar playbook in which a former employee is dismissed for poor performance and then goes public with distorted claims that misrepresent the ongoing hard work of our team. Security is an adversarial space, and we pride ourselves in building on our strong record of protecting people's privacy.”

Importantly, the lawsuit does not allege that user data was actually stolen or misused, but argues that WhatsApp's internal practices left millions of users exposed to potential risk.

Who Is Attaullah Baig?

Attaullah Baig is an Indian-origin cybersecurity expert with more than two decades of experience. A graduate of NIT Warangal with a degree in Computer Science, he later completed a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Utah.

At WhatsApp, Baig's role as head of security involved overseeing compliance and protecting user data across one of the world's most widely used messaging services. His legal team, including whistleblower advocacy group Psst, maintains that his dismissal was a direct result of raising privacy concerns.

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The case has now reignited debate around Meta's privacy record - particularly on WhatsApp, which has over 2 billion users globally, including more than 500 million in India.

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