GB WhatsApp has been implicated in a great deal of controversy over its legality since it is an unofficial modification of the actual WhatsApp application. As per the original WhatsApp policy, use of Mod apps are against their TOS. About GB WhatsApp, WhatsApp clearly mentions in their term of services that they do not support third party apps like little and you can be banned if found (which is your account to permanently/temporarily be no problems ) To help stamp out pesky mods, WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts worldwide in the same year for using unofficial versions of its app, which illustrates a potential risk to users.
GB WhatsApp is legal to some extent. It technically isn't illegal in a lot of countries, but it falls just outside the official app store line barriers—the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. It is distributed via various third-party websites instead of being scrutinised by regulators and going through the App Store vetting process. It also points to some potential data privacy concerns, since these unofficial platforms might not strictly comply with the various stringent data protection measures. A 2022 report from Kaspersky found that up to a quarter of the modified apps, including GB WhatsApp is not adequately encrypted nor does it follow proper data handling standards with potential security risk.
Legal experts say it may not land users in jail to use GB WhatsApp, but they face risks which are more damaging — account bans and data leaks. A former Facebook executive, David Marcus said: “Leaving these systems open is like playing with fire. Something is bound to go wrong at some point. This sentiment is echoed across thousands of reports detailing sudden bans as a result of WhatsApp's enforcement on unofficial versions.
In 2019, for instance it filed a lawsuit against the authors of WhatsApp Plus and some other similar mods to demonstrate how complicated matters can get legally. That lawsuit showed the company's seriousness against unauthorized alterations, showing that these applications do in fact operate beyond boundaries specified by WhatsApp itself. For the man, millions of people will still be using GB WhatsApp despite the risks because it is popular and allows a much higher degree customization etc — he has his doubts that anyone in reality would actually risk trying to sue over something so stupid.
To sum it up, I would say that GB WhatsApp isn´t really illegal but is against WhatsApp´s terms of service which will result in the following: account bans and possible security issues. Users need to know these risks before using such apps. gb whatsapp still offers the modified app for those interested — at their own risk, of course.