A third-party application allows users to read deleted WhatsApp messages, but such apps may carry additional risks.
Although users can read deleted whatsapp messages using a third-party application, such apps may carry additional risks. As a reminder, WhatsApp first introduced the “delete for everyone” feature in 2017, which allows users to delete a message after it has been sent. While the feature saves users from embarrassing situations, it can be annoying when someone intentionally deletes a message before it’s read.
There is another feature on WhatsApp that allows users to send disappearing messages, which disappear from a chat after a time set by the sender. Currently, WhatsApp offers three timeframes for disappearing messages: 24 hours, seven days and 90 days. The optional feature can be enabled by tapping a user’s name and then tapping Disappearing Messages.
WAMR – Recover Deleted Messages & Status Download is an application that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and allows users to read deleted WhatsApp messages. WAMR claims that it can recover text messages and other media attachments in WhatsApp chats. As of February 1, 2022, the app had over 50 million downloads and an average rating of 4.5 stars on the Play Store. The interface is quite simple. It stores WhatsApp messages by contact name and informs the user when someone deletes a message. While all of these stats might be enough to convince someone to download the app, there are some things you should be aware of first.
Downloading third-party apps is risky
To understand the risk of downloading third-party applications to recover deleted messages on WhatsApp, it is important to understand how applications work. Since WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, no third-party application can intercept them directly. Instead, WAMR, or another application that claims the same, captures WhatsApp notifications on a smartphone and stores them in a database. When a sender deletes a WhatsApp message and it is removed from the chat, the copy stored by WAMR remains intact. As stated in the Google Play Store, the application creates a “message backup based on your notification history.”
As reported by Information Security Newspaper, citing data protection experts from the International Institute of Cyber SecurityWAMR asks for extended permissions from a user, including storage, media files, Wi-Fi connection information, and full network access. These permissions can be used to access data stored by other applications on a smartphone, which could lead to the loss or misuse of a user’s personal information, such as contact lists, Internet search history, and sensitive media files. While WAMR itself is not a malicious application, it grants any app the permission to read uninstalled whatsapp messages carry risks that must be taken into account.
Source: WAMR/Play Store, Information Security Newspaper
