WhatsApp on Tuesday announced new privacy features aimed at helping users protect the information they provide.
The new update comes with three main features: Users will be able to leave group chats more silently and set specific controls on when a user can look online.
But perhaps most important is a new tool that will prevent people from taking screenshots when they’re sent messages using the “view at once” feature, meaning they’ll disappear after viewing. That device, unlike the others, is still in testing and will be coming soon.
Currently, when a user leaves a group chat, a notification appears at the bottom of the conversation letting others in the group know who has left.
And while users are already able to turn off a feature that tells others if they have read a message, until now it has not been possible to hide the fact that a user was online and using WhatsApp.
The Meta-owned messaging platform said the new features are aimed at improving privacy around online conversations.
Some campaigners have raised concerns about the end-to-end encryption used on WhatsApp and some other platforms to secure conversations, arguing that it could allow criminals to evade identification.
But in a post announcing the WhatsApp update, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said: “We’ll keep creating new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as a face-to-face conversation.”
WhatsApp’s product head Ami Vora said the platform was focused on building features that “empower people to have more control and privacy over their messages”.
“Over the years, we’ve added interlocking layers of protection to help keep their conversations secure, and the new features is one way we continue to deliver on our commitment to keep messages private,” she said.
“No other global messaging service at this scale provides this level of security for their users’ messages, media, voice messages, video calls, and chat backups.
“We believe WhatsApp is the most secure place to have a private conversation. And 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.”
