WhatsApp has announce new privacy features that are said to give users “more control over their conversations and add layers of protection when messaging.”
The three new privacy features include exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you’re online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages.
WhatsApp said that it is also starting a campaign to educate people about the new features.
WhatsApp already provides other privacy features, including the end-to-end encryption messaging and calling for individuals and businesses.
Meta CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg announce that WhatsApp is bringing three new privacy features to users: exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you’re online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages.
Mark Zuckerberg Said :
“We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations,”
The privacy features are available for both iOS and Android users.
Leave Groups Silently
This feature will allow users to exit a group privately without having to notify everyone, except the admins.
Currently, when you leave a group, everyone in the group is notified via a bubble saying “{your name or number} left”.
This feature will start to roll out to all users this month.
Choose Who Can See When You’re Online
WhatsApp is introducing the ability that will allow users to select who can and cannot see when you’re online.
This feature is useful especially in situations when you want to check your messages in private.
Lets take an example, you have multiple friends messaging you about a weekend plan but you haven’t decide yet and haven’t responde to those texts.
When you check other messages on WhatsApp, your friends will be able to see that you are “Online” and not replying, essentially landing you on a sticky wicket.
With the latest WhatsApp feature, you can keep your online presence private.
It will start rolling out to all users this month.
Screenshot Blocking for View Once Messages
This feature is essentially an extension of the “View Once” feature of WhatsApp.
People usually try to keep a record of their conversations even when the “View Once” feature is active on their phones.
Since the “View Once” feature does not allow a permanent digital record, users tend to take screenshots.
The new feature is enabling screenshot blocking for “View Once” messages for an add layer of protection.
The feature is being test and will be roll out to users soon.
To support the effectiveness of these new privacy features, WhatsApp noted that they found that 72% of people value being able to speak in an honest, unfiltered way, but more than 47% are only comfortable doing this in a safe, private space.
WhatsApp said :
“They are particularly cautious online, ranking privacy in their private messages as most important compare to emails, texts or social media,”
WhatsApp added that 51% prefer to stay hidden online to choose who they want to talk to and 91% of people who are aware of blocking features believe they are important.
These new privacy features are in addition to the already present protections offer on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp offers default end-to-end protection for calls and messages, disappearing messages that self-destruct, end-to-end encrypt backups when you want to save your chat history, 2-step verification for added security, and the ability to block and report unwanted chats.
WhatsApp also said that it is kicking off a campaign to educate people about the new features.
Ami Vora, Head of Product at WhatsApp Said :
“…to spread the word about these new features, we’re also kicking off a global campaign, starting with the UK and India, to educate people about how we work to protect their private conversations on WhatsApp,”
‘Delete for Everyone’ Feature Gets Extension to Over 2 Days
WhatsApp ‘Delete for Everyone’ feature has got an extension.
You can now delete your wrongly sent messages within a longer time frame over two days after transmitting it.
As of now, WhatsApp allow its users to delete a wrongly sent message within one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds’ time frame.
The first mention of this extension was in February 2022.
The development comes as WhatsApp announce three new privacy features in order to provide a more secure conversation experience on the app.
WhatsApp shared a post on Twitter announcing that “you will have a little over 2 days to delete your messages from your chats after you hit send.”
WhatsApp roll out the over one-hour time limit to delete messages from the chat in 2018.
This feature to delete messages for everyone in the chat originally had a time limit of seven minutes after hitting send.
In order to be able to delete messages within two days, you as well as all the recipients should have the latest version of WhatsApp.
There is no clarification whether this feature is only available for Android or iOS users.
As, it should be available to both WhatsApp for Android and WhatsApp for iOS.
Deleting a message for everyone should be simple.
You just need to tap and hold the message (image, video, or document) you want to remove, and tap Delete > select “Delete for everyone”.
This development comes as WhatsApp introduce three new privacy features with an aim to provide more control over conversations and offer more privacy.
WhatsApp already provides other features such as default end-to-end protection for calls and messages, disappearing messages, end-to-end encrypted backups, 2-step verification, and the ability to block and report unwant chats.
