Highlights

• Meta is introducing a cloud-based secure computing system called Private Processing to handle AI features for maintaining user privacy.
• This setup ensures that private messages remain confidential even from Meta itself.
• When a user requests an AI feature, the request is encrypted and anonymised before being sent to Meta’s cloud servers.
• Meta plans to roll out Private Processing in the coming weeks starting with AI-generated chat summaries and writing suggestions.

Caption – WhatsApp to use the Cloud ‘Private Processing’ Tech for AI features. (Image credit – Meta)

Meta has announced that it will soon start using cloud-based systems to handle AI features on WhatsApp. These new tools like chat summaries and writing suggestions are designed to work without compromising WhatsApp’s strong privacy and security standards.

To make this possible, Meta is launching a system called Private Processing. This is a secure computing setup that allows AI features to run in a protected cloud space. It’s similar to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute (PCC), which Apple introduced last year to power its Apple Intelligence features while keeping user data private.

What is Meta’s Private Processing?

Meta says Private Processing is built to keep your data safe while using AI tools. It sets up a secure virtual environment in the cloud so that tasks like summarising unread chats or offering writing help can happen without anyone, not even Meta, seeing your private messages.

Meta explains, “We’re excited to share an initial overview of Private Processing, a new technology we’ve built to support people’s needs and aspirations to leverage AI in a secure and privacy-preserving way. This confidential computing infrastructure, built on top of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), will make it possible for people to direct AI to process their requests — like summarizing unread WhatsApp threads or getting writing suggestions — in our secure and private cloud environment.”

“In other words, Private Processing will allow users to leverage powerful AI features, while preserving WhatsApp’s core privacy promise, ensuring no one except you and the people you’re talking to can access or share your personal messages, not even Meta or WhatsApp,” the company further adds.

Similar to PCC, Private Processing will also use what is called the stateless processing. It explains, “Stateless processing and forward security: Private Processing must not retain access to user messages once the session is complete to ensure that the attacker can not gain access to historical requests or responses.”

Moreover, Meta will let users verify the claims as it states that “users and security researchers must be able to audit the behavior of Private Processing to independently verify our privacy and security guarantees.”

How Does it Work?

Here’s how it works –

• When you use an AI feature on WhatsApp, like asking it to summarise chats, the request is sent to Meta’s cloud servers.
• The system checks to make sure the request is coming from a genuine WhatsApp app on a valid device.
• Then, the request is encrypted and anonymised, which means Meta can’t tell who sent it or where it came from.
• Once it reaches the servers, the request is handled inside what Meta calls a confidential virtual machine (CVM). Meta claims that not even the company itself can see what’s being processed.
• After processing, the response (like a chat summary) is encrypted again and sent back to your device. Only your device can unlock and read it.

Apple’s Private Cloud Compute

Meanwhile, Apple follows a similar method for its Apple Intelligence features using what it calls Private Cloud Compute.

To achieve this, most AI processing is done directly on your device. Moreover, if a task needs more power, it gets sent to PCC servers. Any personal data sent is protected with end-to-end encryption, so not even Apple can access it.

Apple also uses stateless computation. This means once the processing is done, all the personal data is immediately deleted and it’s like it was never there. On top of that, Apple lets security researchers verify this process to make sure everything works as promised.

When Is Private Processing Coming To WhatsApp?

Meta says it will start rolling out Private Processing in the next few weeks.

The first features to use this system will include AI-generated chat summaries and writing suggestions. Over time, Meta plans to expand this privacy-focused tech to support more AI features on WhatsApp.

FAQs

Q1. What is Meta’s Private Processing, and how does it ensure privacy?

Answer. Meta’s Private Processing is a secure cloud-based computing system designed to handle AI features like chat summaries and writing suggestions on WhatsApp while maintaining user privacy. It creates a secure virtual environment where AI tasks are processed without exposing private messages even to Meta itself.

Q2. How does Private Processing work when a user requests an AI feature?

Answer. When a user requests an AI feature (e.g., chat summarisation), the request is encrypted and anonymised before being sent to Meta’s cloud servers. The processing happens inside a confidential virtual machine (CVM), ensuring Meta cannot view the content. The encrypted response is then sent back to the user’s device, which is the only one capable of unlocking and reading the final output.

Q3. When will Private Processing be available on WhatsApp?

Answer. Meta plans to roll out Private Processing in the coming weeks. The first features using this system will include AI-generated chat summaries and writing suggestions, with future expansion to additional AI functionalities.

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