Do Son 
Meta has introduced a new technology in WhatsApp called “Private Processing,” designed to enable artificial intelligence features without compromising user privacy. According to the developers, this innovation allows users to summarize unread messages, edit text, and perform other AI-assisted tasks while ensuring the confidentiality of their conversations.
The core idea is to grant users access to AI capabilities without revealing message content to Meta, WhatsApp, or any third party. All requests are processed within an isolated environment known as a Confidential Virtual Machine (CVM), where data is handled securely — even the platform owners cannot access it.
This approach is founded on several architectural guarantees. The first is a set of enforced technical safeguards: if any attempt is made to tamper with the system or breach its confidentiality, the system will either shut down or become detectably compromised. The second is the provision for external auditing: users and researchers will have the ability to examine and verify the mechanism’s integrity. The third is the prevention of individualized targeting: to isolate a single user, an attacker would need to compromise the entire security architecture — a task rendered virtually impossible by design.
To process user requests, WhatsApp employs anonymous credentials and a connection protocol known as Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP). This technology conceals the user’s IP address and establishes an encrypted tunnel between the user’s device and Meta’s servers. The request is first relayed through a third-party proxy before reaching the Trusted Execution Environment, where it is decrypted and processed.
Crucially, Private Processing leaves no trace. Once a task is completed, neither the system itself nor a potential adversary can recover the contents of any prior requests — the entire infrastructure is built to preclude even theoretical data reconstruction.
Meta acknowledges that potential vulnerabilities still exist, including risks from compromised insiders, supply chain exploits, and malicious actors. However, the company asserts that the system has been engineered with multi-layered defenses designed to minimize the likelihood of breaches.
To enhance transparency, Meta plans to publish hashes and binary images of its CVMs, allowing researchers to compare them against the originals and detect any signs of data leakage.
This initiative echoes Apple’s Private Cloud Compute (PCC), which also leverages OHTTP and processes requests in isolated environments. In late 2023, Apple opened PCC to external evaluation, inviting experts to assess its security framework.
With Private Processing, WhatsApp takes another step toward secure AI integration — upholding its fundamental commitment: personal conversations remain personal.
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