Messaging app Telegram accused WhatsApp of lying to its 2 billion usersafter instigating a Twitter clash. On the day that WhatsApp’s controversialnew privacy policy went live, Telegram tweeted a meme insinuating its timeto bin the messaging giant.

WhatsApp responded by taking a dig at Telegram for not providing end-to-endencryption.

In turn Telegram accused WhatsApp of lying to its users, alleging that theFacebook-owned platform can read user chats which it repeatedly assuresusers it cannot. The platform shared a screenshot from its Twitter accountas evidence of WhatsApp’s dishonesty.

However, the screenshot is misleading as it implies only in thecircumstance that chats are uploaded to a cloud service are they vulnerableand can be accessed via a third party. Even if WhatsApp can open chat on aclean device with using the same mobile number, it still does not guaranteeit will be able to access chat history.

WhatsApp maintains that its personal messaging is as secure as always andit will never change that. In the security section of its blog it says:

“WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption is used when you message another personusing WhatsApp Messenger. End-to-end encryption ensures only you and theperson you’re communicating with can read or listen to what is sent, andnobody in between, not even WhatsApp. This is because with end-to-endencryption, your messages are secured with a lock, and only the recipientand you have the special key needed to unlock and read them. All of thishappens automatically: no need to turn on settings or set up special secretchats to secure your messages.”