WhatsApp Help Pages Leaked Hidden Instructions for a Meta Chatbot
wired ·
Approximately 80 help pages on WhatsApp’s website inadvertently exposed hidden instructions intended for Meta’s internal chatbot. The leaked text, discovered by privacy company Redact, included specific directives such as 'WHAT NOT TO SAY' to guide the large language model's responses. These instructions explicitly prohibited the chatbot from providing legal advice or citing regulatory frameworks like GDPR when users raised related issues. Additionally, the bot was instructed not to recommend contacting data protection authorities regarding account deletion queries. Meta spokesperson Joshua Breckman confirmed that a bug caused the sensitive code blocks to be visible in the webpage source and stated that the issue has since been fixed. The company emphasized that these guidelines are designed to ensure accurate support rather than offering legal opinions. While the text is no longer visible on live pages, archived versions still contain the exposed prompts.
wired