WeChat claims not to store user chat histories

Tencent calls respect for user privacy one of its core principles

The notion that Tencent, developer of WeChat, stores or analyzes user chat histories from the messaging service is “pure fallacy,” the company insisted in a statement published to its official account on Tuesday.

“Please rest assured, respecting user privacy has always been one of WeChat’s most important principles,” the post urges. “We have neither the authority nor any reason to ‘watch your WeChat.’” That claim appears to fly in the face of national cyber security regulations, which not only grant Tencent the authority to store user chat histories, but in fact mandate that all group messaging platforms retain “internet records” and make them available to law enforcement for at least six months.

It’s standard procedure for Chinese authorities to consult WeChat communications during investigations, human rights lawyer Ran Tong told the Financial Times. The ambiguity of Tencent’s statement allows for the possibility that other bodies store messages on the company’s behalf, he said.

“How could WeChat fulfill the government’s task if it does not store or analyze conversations from its users?” asked Li Yi, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences internet research center, in the South China Morning Post.

The announcement ostensibly comes in response to accusations leveled against Tencent chairman Ma Huateng by Li Shufu, chairman of Geely, the Chinese automobile company that owns Volvo. At a business forum on Monday, Li suggested that Ma “is undoubtedly looking through our WeChats every day.”

Tencent continues to diversify the array of features bundled into the WeChat app, already the most popular messaging service in China. Just last week WeChat announced the nationwide launch of a new digital identification platform that users will be able to present at hotels and transport hubs in lieu of government-issued ID cards.

“As the app continues to add features,” writes Zheping Huang for Quartz, “people will only become more dependent on it over time. The scary part is that WeChat gathers and monitors user data that can be shared with the government whenever deemed necessary… So while WeChat is an all-encompassing system that does indeed make everyday life easier, it’s also a powerful tool of government surveillance and control.”