Privacy and security
INFO
For help, ask in #help on our Discord or open an issue on GitHub. Please add what you tried and what the setup page or docker logs wa-classic shows.
Where your messages are
| Place | What's there |
|---|---|
| Your phone | everything, as always with WhatsApp |
| Your bridge | your messages, photos, videos and voice messages, the link to WhatsApp and the setup page password, in the Docker volume wa-classic-data |
| The old iPhone | the chats it shows, settings, and a cache of pictures |
The bridge has to read your messages to show them on the old iPhone. On the bridge they are stored unencrypted. Run it only on a computer you trust, in your own home.
What we never see
There is no WA Classic server. Your messages go from WhatsApp to your own bridge and then to your own iPhone. aronsz26 doesn't run anything in between and never sees your messages, contacts or phone number.
The bridge only talks to:
- WhatsApp, like WhatsApp Web does
- the Internet Archive, once, if you tap Download the look
- your old iPhones
The connection to the iPhone
- At home the iPhone talks to the bridge over your Wi-Fi, without encryption, but only with its own key. Use a Wi-Fi with a password.
- Away from home the connection is encrypted, and the iPhone only accepts your own bridge's certificate. See Away from home.
DANGER
Never forward port 8097 in your router. It's the setup page and the unencrypted connection, only meant for your home network.
Keeping it safe
- Choose a good password for the setup page.
- A setup code is only valid for 30 minutes and stops working after 10 wrong tries.
- If you lose an old iPhone, unlink it: on your phone in WhatsApp › Settings › Linked Devices, or on the setup page.
- If you stop using WA Classic, remove everything, including the Docker volume.
Your account
WA Classic is an unofficial client. Using it may break WhatsApp's terms of service, and your account could be banned. If you can't risk that, don't link your main account.
The website and this guide
waclassic.com counts page views without cookies and without storing IP addresses. Details are in the Privacy & Legal page.