Mark Zuckerberg announces New Privacy Features on WhatsApp to provide users More Privacy, More Protection and More Control

Today, Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp is bringing three new privacy features to users, giving them more control over their conversations and added layers of protection when messaging.

“New privacy features coming to WhatsApp: exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you’re online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages. We’ll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Meta

WhatsApp protects the personal calls and messages of users with default end-to-end encryption, so no one but the intended recipient can hear or see them. But that is just one important part of protecting your privacy. Over the years, WhatsApp has added new layers of privacy protections to give you multiple ways to secure your messages, including disappearing messages that self-destruct, end-to-end encrypted backups when you want to save your chat history, 2-step verification for added security, and the ability to block and report unwanted chats. 

Today’s three new product updates join WhatsApp’s growing list of privacy features that users can take advantage of and that provide even more layers of protection, giving users more control over their messages. The new privacy features on WhatsApp include:

Leave Groups Silently

Users will be able to exit a group privately without having to notify everyone. Now, instead of notifying the full group when leaving, only the admins will be notified. This feature starts to roll out to all users this month.

Choose Who Can See When You’re Online

Seeing when friends or family are online helps users feel connected to one another, but everyone has had times when they wanted to check their WhatsApp privately. For the times you want to keep your online presence private, WhatsApp is introducing the ability to select who can and can’t see when you’re online. This will start rolling out to all users this month.

Screenshot Blocking for View Once Messages

View Once is already an incredibly popular way to share photos or media that don’t need to have a permanent digital record. Now WhatsApp is enabling screenshot blocking for View Once messages for an added layer of protection. This feature is being tested and will be rolled out to users soon.

The introduction of these new features is backed by a new WhatsApp privacy study that dives deeper into understanding the role of privacy when having meaningful conversations while messaging. Some of the findings from the global study are as follows:

●       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. They are particularly cautious online, ranking privacy in their private messages as most important — compared to emails, texts or social media.

●       For the times when you need more privacy, 51% prefer to stay hidden online to choose who they want to talk to.

●       91% of people who are aware of blocking features believe they are important.

That is why WhatsApp is introducing new layers of protection that enable users to speak freely and have private conversations.

To spread the word about these new layers of protection, Whatsapp is also kicking off a campaign to educate people about the new features and its continued commitment to protecting users’ private conversations on WhatsApp. The campaign personifies the feeling of being protected when having a truly private conversation when messaging, and highlights WhatsApp’s interlocking layers of protection.

Ami Vora, Head of Product at WhatsApp, said,“At WhatsApp, we’re focused on building product 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. 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.”