Edited by: TJVNews.com

Billionaire Elon Musk has claimed ‘WhatsApp cannot be trusted’ in a recently posted Tweet. The Twitter chief was responding to one user who claimed WhatsApp had been using the microphone in the background of his phone, the Mirror of the UK reported.

According to a report that appeared on the androidpolice.com web site, a former Google engineer and the current Director of Engineering at Twitter leading Growth organization recently encountered a potential privacy issue with WhatsApp on his Pixel 7 Pro. According to Google’s privacy dashboard feature, the app had used his microphone at least nine times overnight, all without interaction from the user.

Foad Dabiri tweeted about the issue over the weekend, posting a screenshot that showed WhatsApp accessing his microphone intermittently in the early morning hours, as was reported on the androidpolice.com web site. Considering WhatsApp parent company Meta’s history with privacy issues, the problem understandably drew the ire of many internet commenters.

The Mirror of the UK reported that the user wrote: “WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6AM (and that’s just a part of the timeline!) What’s going on?”

Elon Musk didn’t mince words when expressing his opinions on Meta’s privacy practices, even going so far as to say WhatsApp flat-out cannot be trusted, as was reported on the androidpolice.com site.

Musk replied on Twitter that “WhatsApp cannot be trusted” before replying to another user who said “it’s incredible how many people don’t realize that WhatsApp is owned by Meta /Facebook, “ according to the report on the Mirror web site.

Androidpolice.com reported that Musk elaborated that “WhatsApp founders left Meta/Facebook in disgust, started #deletefacebook campaign & made major contributions to building Signal.” He then cast doubt on Meta’s direction for the chat app since taking over its development, adding “What [the founders of WhatsApp] learned about Facebook & changes to WhatsApp obviously disturbed them greatly.”

The billionaire claimed recent changes at the messaging company had disturbed workers greatly. The Mirror reported that Musk then tweeted to his followers “Trust nothing, not even nothing.”

WhatsApp itself pointed to a flaw in Google’s privacy dashboard software as the likely culprit behind Dabiri’s issue, as was reported by androidpolice.com. The company believes that the log entries showing WhatsApp accessing the microphone are misattributed and has contacted Google to help it get to the bottom of things.

Musk, 51, previously urged social media users to delete Facebook, a rival messaging app, amid fears over privacy, the Mirror of the UK reported.

The SpaceX and Tesla boss wanted people to sign up to the privacy-focused messaging app Signal in January after Facebook forced users to agree to controversial terms and conditions by February 8, the report indicated.

The conditions saw private data collected by WhatsApp, including a user’s IP address and phone number, shared with Facebook. WhatsApp privacy claimed chats with friends or family members would not be affected, the Mirror reported.

However, following Musk’s tweet, there was a reported increase in the number of users using Signal, an encrypted messaging app. The Mirror reported that the company tweeted in January: “Verification codes are currently delayed across several providers because so many new people are trying to join Signal right now (we can barely register our excitement). We are working with carriers to resolve this as quickly as possible. Hang in there.”

It is not the first time Musk has criticized Facebook after he called the company “lame” last year.