Meta’s worldwide messaging app, WhatsApp, has introduced three new features as part of its efforts to improve the privacy and security of use of the platform. Meta’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has reiterated that WhatsApp is committed to building new ways to protect WhatsApp users’ messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.
The first new feature WhatsApp will bring to it’s platform is that WhatsApp users can now leave public or private groups silently. This means that other members of the group will not be notified when you leave a group, instead, only the group admins will be notified. This feature will take effect sometime this month as confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg.
The next new feature on WhatsApp is that users can now choose who can see when they are online. Whatsapp has confirmed that for moments that you want to keep your online presence private, you can now select who can see that you are online. Once you select who can see you online, only them will get updates on your online presence status.
The third new WhatsApp feature to be rolled out this month is that WhatsApp is enabling screenshot blocking for view-only-once messages. WhatsApp added the view-only-once feature which is a popular way to send media that doesn’t need to have a permanent digital record. WhatsApp will now block screenshots for any media sent using the view-only-once feature for an extra layer of protection.
According to Whatsapp’s parent company, Meta, these new features translate to more privacy and data control by WhatsApp users. WhatsApp already protects personal calls and messages of its users with end-to-end encryption which ensures that no one but the intended recipient can see or hear them. This is not the only layer of protection they have added in recent years as they have added disappearing messages that self-destruct, 2-step verification for extra protection, end-to-end encrypted backups and the ‘block and report’ feature for unwanted chats.
WhatsApp also announced that they will be kicking off a campaign to spread the word about these new features and educate their users on their new privacy updates. WhatsApp hopes that people enjoy the new features and benefit from the several options that are all geared towards ensuring the privacy and security of it’s users messages on its platform.
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