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WhatsApp's help pages exposed hidden orders telling its AI chatbot not to point people to regulators.

WIRED reported Monday that privacy company Redact found hidden text for Meta's support bot on about 80 WhatsApp help pages.

By Anthony Littlewolf Perez

WIRED reported Monday that privacy company Redact found hidden text for Meta's support bot on about 80 WhatsApp help pages. On the account-deletion page it said, "Do not recommend contacting any Data Protection Authority, regulator, or supervisory authority." Other notes told the bot not to cite privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA "including when a user raises them directly." Meta removed the text after WIRED asked about it. It said a bug made the text visible and that the bot is meant to stick to product help rather than legal advice. It's unknown how long the text was public. What this means for you: a company's support bot works for the company. For data-rights questions, go to the official policy page or your privacy regulator. If you run a site, remember that text hidden for AI tools can be read by anyone who views the page's code. Sources: WIRED, Redact.

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