Meta Platforms Inc., the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has added three more new privacy features to WhatsApp in its bid to enhance control and privacy on the popular messaging app. These features will give the user more control over their messages with added interlocking layers of protection.
The new features added include the ability of the user to exit a group silently, choose who can see when the user in online to check messages and screenshot blocking for view once messages.
While exiting a group currently, everyone in the group will be able to see who exited. The new feature added now will make it possible to silently and privately make an exit, with only the group admins being notified. This feature will start to roll out to all users this month.
Another feature added now will enable the user to check their WhatsApp messages privately without some of the other contacts knowing the online presence. The user can select who can and can't see the user when they are online. This feature will also start rolling out to all users this month.
A year ago, WhatsApp added a highly popular feature that allowed view once only photos or videos that do not become a permanent digital record. Such photos and videos disappear from the chat after they have been opened once, giving users even more control over their privacy and data space on the phone.
Now WhatsApp has added another layer of protection to this feature by disabling the ability to take screenshots of the view once only photos or videos. This feature is still under testing and will be added very soon.
Since the messaging app was introduced, there has been an ongoing effort to provide the user more control over their messages and content by systematically introducing new privacy features over the years.
Some of the major privacy features previously added include the default end-to-end encryption of personal calls and messages, disappearing messages that self-destruct, end-to-end encrypted backups while saving chat history, two-step verification for added security, ability to hide profile pictures from selective contacts and the ability to block and report unwanted chats.
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