We found no law in the UK, the US or India that says sharing a message you received is illegal in itself, and none that says it’s always fine. We haven’t checked every EU country’s own law. It depends on what the messages say, who you show them to and why. Giving them to your lawyer is very different from posting them online.
This is general information and it isn’t legal advice. The law depends on where you live, and most of the detail below is from England and Wales.
At a glance
| What you want to do | What to think about |
|---|---|
| Give messages to your lawyer, a court or the police | Usually lower risk, because of the protections below. Repeated or false complaints can cause problems of their own, and family cases have their own rules |
| Show a friend or relative for support | Data protection law often stays out of it, as the next section explains. Defamation can still apply, very private details can raise privacy questions, and family cases have their own rules |
| Post them online or send them widely | This brings in the most law, because data protection, privacy and defamation can all apply |
| Send on an intimate photo or video | In England and Wales, this can be an offence even if you mean no harm. Images of anyone under 18 are a separate serious offence |
| Keep sharing them to upset someone | This can be harassment |
| Share a work chat | Your contract and your employer’s rules may apply |
| Read or copy from someone else’s phone | A separate question, and it can be a crime |
Data protection
Data protection law doesn’t cover purely personal use. The UK’s version says so in Article 2(2)(a) of the UK GDPR, and the EU’s says so in Article 2(2)(c).
Sharing with one friend will often fall outside data protection law, and posting to the public won’t. In a statement from October 2026, Europe’s data protection board said that sharing a photo or video with a family member or a friend falls inside this exemption, and that sharing it with an indefinite number of people on a public account doesn’t. That statement is about smart glasses and gives preliminary views, and it says the exemption is read narrowly, case by case.
The EU’s top court has now been asked about this. A woman forwarded a friend’s whole WhatsApp chat to the partner of the friend’s employer, and the friend was dismissed days later. A Frankfurt court awarded €7,500, and the appeal court reversed that, holding that the exemption applied. In September 2026, Germany’s top civil court asked the EU’s top court what “personal” and “family” activity mean. We read this in a law firm’s report and haven’t seen the court’s own text.
Whether using messages as evidence stays inside the exemption is unsettled. An English judge said in passing in M v F that there may be good arguments it doesn’t, in a case about covert recordings. Family justice guidance reports the UK regulator’s view that data protection law can apply once such material is used in a professional setting, and it has asked for more clarity. Both are about recordings, and we found nothing on messages someone received.
If data protection law does apply, the UK has an exemption for what’s necessary for legal proceedings, legal advice or establishing your legal rights. It lifts some data protection duties so that you can make the disclosure. It doesn’t remove every rule, and the same guidance says sharing a covert recording needs a lawful basis.
Doing any of this for a business is different, because the personal use exemption won’t help you.
In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act also leaves out personal or domestic use, though that part wasn’t due in force until May 2027 as far as we could find, and the date could change. Canada’s PIPEDA has a similar exclusion.
Privacy and confidence
In England and Wales, someone can sue over misuse of private information. A court asks whether they reasonably expected privacy, then weighs that against freedom of expression.
- A recipient isn’t automatically in the clear. In McKennitt v Ash, a friend who had lawfully learned private details was still held liable for publishing them. That case was about a book sold to the public, and a chat with one friend is a long way from that.
- WhatsApp messages can be private. In FKJ v RVT, a judge said it couldn’t be seriously contested that a woman had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her WhatsApp messages. That was an interim ruling about someone allegedly getting into her account, and the case settled before trial. We found no English judgment about a recipient forwarding messages.
- Health gets extra protection. McKennitt called a person’s health a private matter, and doubly so when it’s shared in confidence.
We read nothing from Scotland or Northern Ireland that settles how far this applies there.
Defamation
Passing on someone’s false claim can make you responsible for it. The UK Supreme Court said in Lachaux that repeating a libel is treated like making the statement directly. So if a message says something damaging about a third person, forwarding it can be a problem.
In England and Wales, the statement must cause or be likely to cause serious harm to reputation, truth is a defence, and the time limit is one year. Showing that the person really sent the message doesn’t prove that what it says is true.
Harassment
The Protection from Harassment Act covers a course of conduct on at least two occasions, including causing distress. You don’t need to contact the person directly if you know it will get back to them. In Hayes v Willoughby, the conduct was mainly a long letter campaign to public bodies, and it also included passing on confidential information. Publishing material about someone is also listed as an example of stalking.
If you’re on the receiving end, see our guide to saving evidence of harassment.
Intimate images
This is the clearest line.
- Anyone who is or may be under 18. Don’t send it on or show it to anyone, even to help. In England and Wales, this is a separate serious offence. Report it to the police and ask them what to do with it.
- England and Wales. It’s an offence to share a photo or film of someone in an intimate state without their consent, if you don’t reasonably believe they consent. You don’t have to mean any harm, and showing it to one person counts. Threatening to share one is also an offence. There’s a defence of reasonable excuse, and some exemptions, so ask a lawyer or the police how to hand over an image you need to report. A 2026 Act adds more changes, most of them not yet in force when we wrote this.
- Scotland and Northern Ireland. The offences in Scotland and Northern Ireland turn on what you intended, and in Scotland on recklessness too.
- US. The TAKE IT DOWN Act of 2025 makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish such images through an online service in certain circumstances. Agreeing to a photo being taken isn’t agreeing to it being published. We couldn’t confirm how it applies to private chats, and states have their own laws.
- Canada and India. See Canada’s Criminal Code and section 66E of India’s IT Act.
Work chats
“It was a private group” hasn’t stopped employers from acting. In Case v Tai Tarian, a tribunal dismissed an unfair dismissal claim that arose from messages in a private WhatsApp group. In Donaldson, the employee accepted that nothing stopped people from screenshotting a group’s content and passing it on. Tribunal decisions depend on their facts and don’t set binding rules.
Your contract and your employer’s policies may also apply. Against that, a confidentiality clause isn’t valid if it tries to stop a worker from making a whistleblowing disclosure. Our page on workplace disputes has more.
Family cases
In England and Wales, the rules protect what comes from the case. Government guidance on cases about children lists who you can share with, such as your lawyer, and says you could be fined or imprisoned for sharing beyond that, including on social media. Once messages are filed in a case, those rules may reach them too.
A 2026 judiciary guide also says WhatsApp messages should stay out of a family court bundle unless the court orders them. That’s about the bundle, and it doesn’t ban them as evidence. See our page on divorce and custody.
Lawyers, courts and the police
- Lawyers. The UK exemption above can help with what’s necessary for legal advice, and the word “necessary” matters, so send what’s relevant.
- Police. In Westcott v Westcott, the Court of Appeal held that a complaint to the police is protected from a defamation claim. That protection is about defamation only.
- Documents from the other side. In ordinary English civil cases, CPR 31.22 limits what you can do with documents the other side disclosed. Small claims don’t use that rule, so ask the court or an adviser before using those documents outside the case.
Recording is a different question
People often mix these up. Recording laws mainly cover capturing a call or conversation, and some also cover passing on an unlawful recording. In the US, federal law generally lets one party consent, while states such as Florida and Washington require everyone’s consent.
A voice note was sent to you on purpose, so we think those rules are the wrong test for it. No source we found deals with this directly. Sharing one raises the same questions as sharing a text.
Someone else’s phone
Getting into another person’s phone or account is a different matter from sharing your own chat. In the UK, the Computer Misuse Act makes unauthorised access an offence. In the US, see the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In England, Imerman v Tchenguiz held that secretly getting hold of private information can itself be a breach of confidence, including within a marriage.
What WhatsApp’s terms say
WhatsApp’s UK terms say nothing about forwarding a message you received. They do ban using the service in ways that violate others’ privacy, or that are defamatory or harassing. Those terms are a contract between you and WhatsApp.
Before you share
- Ask what you need it for. Share what’s needed for that purpose, with the people who need it.
- Look for other people’s details. A chat may include someone’s health, money or children. Cover what isn’t relevant when you can.
- Don’t post it. If you think it needs to go public, speak to a lawyer first.
- Keep the original. Leave the chat on your phone, keep an export of the chat, and check how far back it goes. Our article on screenshots as evidence shows how to capture the key messages.
You can open your export on Chatonfile.com and read and search it on your own device, with nothing from your chat sent to us, so you can work out what matters before you show anyone. If you order a PDF, you decide who sees it. It has every message numbered, so you can point a lawyer to the ones that count, and our security page lists who handles what.
Common questions
Is it illegal to share WhatsApp messages in the UK?
We found no UK law that makes it illegal in itself. It can still be unlawful depending on what the messages say and who you show them to, through privacy law, data protection, defamation, harassment or the offence of sharing intimate images.
Can I show WhatsApp messages to my lawyer or the police?
This is usually lower risk than other kinds of sharing. UK data protection law lifts some duties for what's necessary for legal advice and legal proceedings, and an English court has held that a complaint to the police is protected from a defamation claim. It isn't risk free, and family cases and intimate images have their own rules.
Can I forward a private photo someone sent me?
Be very careful. In England and Wales, sharing an intimate image is an offence if the person hasn't consented and you don't reasonably believe they have, even if you mean no harm, and showing it to one person counts. If the person is or may be under 18, don't send it on or show it to anyone. Report it to the police.
Do I need the other person's consent to forward a voice note?
Recording laws are mainly about capturing a call or conversation, and a voice note was sent to you on purpose. That's our reading, and no source we found deals with it directly. Sharing one raises the same questions as sharing a text.
