Can VPN read WhatsApp message
I’m a heavy VPN user. Each time I turn on the laptop or unlock my phone, the first thing I am going to do is turn the VPN on. I hope that effort will give me some protection of privacy. Now I wonder if my WhatsApp communication is safe, can VPN read WhatsApp messages? This article is about what I have learned about this topic.
VPN can’t read your WhatsApp messages since all messages are end-to-end encrypted in WhatsApp. That means that only you and the recipient can read them. Even Meta can’t read them. However, it’s not the case when the messages have been saved on devices since they are decrypted.
When you send something information out over the internet and want to keep it secure in order to avoid it being used by your adversaries against you in the future. End-to-end encryption is just a part of working. You have to make sure all participants are under control and how to make use of VPN to be anonymous. Read on to find all information you needed.
Can my WhatsApp messages be leaked
Certainly, your messages sent via WhatsApp could be leaked! It would include photos, videos, voice messages, documents, and calls. However, the leaking mostly happened on either side of communication parties, and the backup storage on cloud services, other than during communication between both ends since the traffic has been encrypted.
Let’s spot some points at which your WhatsApp possibly leaked.
Your WhatsApp messages recipient shares them with others
The first would be your WhatsApp message recipient. As we know from many messages leaking stories, the main reason is the messages exposed by the recipients for any causes you could imagine. So if you are concerned about being bitten by your messages sent to others, you should be sure the recipient is the person worth being trusted. It would be best for you not to send messages that will bite back at you.
WhatsApp messages saved on both ends are easy to get
Even though messages are end-to-end encrypted, if someone gets access to your or your recipient’s phone, it could be easy for this guy to read all messages on WhatsApp. All this guy needs to do is break the phone’s password or threaten you or your recipient to unlock the phone. Have you ever read the story of how police force victims to unlock their phones?
It’s easy for someone to get WhatsApp messages from backup on the cloud
Since the backup on a cloud service of WhatsApp messages is not encrypted, it’s easy for a hacker to break the password to get full access to it. Generally, average people just set a very simple password for their cloud service account, a hacker could be able to break it easily.
If you want to prevent the situations above, you have to disable Auto Backup in the settings of WhatsApp since it is the default configuration. Or you have to set a very strong password for your cloud service account. Anyway, password protection is easy to break for a hacker.
Would there be any problem when using a VPN with WhatsApp
There will not be any problem using WhatsApp over a VPN. When you use a VPN, all traffic will go through the VPN server and be encrypted. Then the VPN server transfers all traffic to the destination. There is nothing to do with WhatsApp, just an additional layer of encryption. You can be sure that WhatsApp would work as normal.
There is an additional advantage of using a VPN. When you are in a place where WhatsApp is blocked. The VPN can help you to overcome the forbidden. And in case you use WhatsApp over a public WiFi hotspot, the encrypted VPN tunnel of VPN will provide you with needed protection from being snooped.
How to run WhatsApp through VPN
Regardless of which device you are using to run WhatsApp, whether it is an Apple phone, an Apple iPad, an Android Phone, or a laptop based on Windows. The process is similar. Let’s suppose it is an Android phone:
- Go to Google Play and search for ExpressVPN(you can search for the VPN that you prefer, such as NordVPN or Surshark, etc.);
- After you see ExpressVPN appears click the install button beside it；
- Wait for a while, when it is installed click the Open button to launch it;
- Provide your email address to start 7-Day Free Trial;
- Tap the three dots and then choose a location where you’d like to connect to, such as Toronto – 2;
- Tap the big button in the center of the screen to connect to the VPN server in the place;
- When you see the Connected word while the color has changed to green, it’s done;
- Open your WhatsApp on your phone as usual;
- Use it with a VPN;
That’s it! Now you can enjoy an additional protection layer of security. Or unblocked WhatsApp in your place which is blocked by authority.
Can WhatsApp be tracked with a VPN
The good news is it would be hard for someone to track your WhatsApp while you use a VPN. Because the IP address changed and encrypted traffic between your device and the VPN server. The bad news is your WhatsApp still could be tracked if your adversaries are determined.
Let me explain, If someone wants to track your WhatsApp, in most cases it means that this guy wants to know where you are while chatting with you on WhatsApp. There are a few ways to do that. The mainly two ways are,
- Get your IP address via the specific tool;
- Inject the malware into your device to expose your real-time location;
- track you with IPDR attached to each message
For the first one, when you use WhatsApp with a VPN, your real location would not be exposed because the IP address someone gets is the one of the VPN server, not yours. Your IP address has been changed since using a VPN. So you can easily avoid being tracked with a VPN when someone uses this sort of way to try to track you while you are using WhatsApp.
An example of this is, using the WhatsApp Windows version to chat with you while opening a command window on Windows to get your IP address by issuing a command: netstat-an.
For the second one, however, you can’t escape from being tracked even if you use a VPN since you are not tracked by the IP address of your device. Regardless of what methods are employed(maybe you are tricked to click a link that says it is a video you are interested in), someone has injected software(you can imagine the software is an agent with specific goals) into your device successfully. And you have no idea of its existence. The software will collect your identity, messages, and precise geographic location of yours by communicating with GPS, cellar tower, WiFi hotspots, etc, and then report to its master.
For the third one, someone can track you without decrypting the communication in WhatsApp, there is a group of information including the mac address of your device, and destination called IPDR attached to each message you sent on WhatsApp. You can do nothing with it.
You can see even WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption, even if you employ a high-quality VPN while using WhatsApp, you still are not able to avoid being tracked by someone who has resources and is determined. Anyway, beginning to use a VPN is the first step to restoring your security and privacy.
Which VPN is good for WhatsApp
There are many decent VPNs on the market that work with WhatsApp. Based on my own experiences, I would say that ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surshark are outstanding among others.
Accept Surfshark, ExpressVPN and NordVPN are based in good privacy jurisdictions that are out of reach of 5 or 14 Eyes surveillance groups. And they all have a no-logs policy that has been audited and verified by third-party with a high reputation in the security industry.
They all unlock all major VoIP, social media, and chat apps with ease. Though they have a few differences in features and price, the following is a simple takeaway. You can choose one that fits you:
 |  |  | |
| Work with WhatsApp | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Speeds | 40-250Mbps | 25-445Mbps | 40-346Mbps |
| Features | split tunneling threat manager | split tunneling CyberSec Double-VPN Tor-over-VPN Obfuscated servers | split tunneling CleanWeb multi-hop VPN Static IP servers |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Island | Panama | Netherlands |
| Logging Policies | No logs(audited) | No logs(audited) | No logs(audited) |
| Price | $6.67/month | $3.29/month | $2.49/month |
| Support | 24/7 live chat | 24/7 live chat | 24/7 live chat |
| Payments and Refunds | Creditcard Paypal Bitcoin 30-day refund window | Creditcard Paypal Google Pay Amazon Pay ACH Transfer Cryptocurrency 30-day refund window | Creditcard Paypal Google Pay Amazon Pay Cryptocurrency 30-day refund window |
| Website | expressvpn.com | nordvpn.com | surfshark.com |
