WhatsApp has implemented additional privacy features to its app in the past few days, allowing you to speak without having to worry about stalkers following you.
Users currently have the option to conceal their last seen and online behaviors from everyone, as well as from persons who are not on their contact list, using the chat application.
However, you may be astonished to learn that there are specific applications that can spy on your WhatsApp activity, and the new privacy protections prohibit them from doing so anymore.
WabetaInfo provided the information, which was based on an email answer from WhatsApp’s customer service. “People you don’t know and haven’t communicated with will find it more difficult to view your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp,” says the email, which states that the new privacy features are now active for all WhatsApp connections – including corporate accounts.
These new privacy options, which impact who can see or cannot view a user’s online status, are designed to function automatically, unlike many other WhatsApp features that may be switched on and off by users. What this implies is that WhatsApp will roll out the functionality on the backend side of the app, and users will not be required to do anything, at least according to the information currently accessible.
Due to the fact that this is a backend update, it is also unclear when WhatsApp will begin to completely implement it. The situation is a bit perplexing for users at the moment, in a manner. You should therefore refrain from attempting to alter anything in your WhatsApp settings at this time.
So, what exactly do these privacy precautions accomplish?
The bottom truth is that there are a number of third-party applications that can keep track of when a WhatsApp user was last seen and what they were doing online. And this is despite the fact that the “Nobody” privacy setting is active.
Not only do these applications watch your movements, but they also register them for the benefit of anybody who wishes to keep tabs on your whereabouts. WhatsApp’s new function is a godsend for those who are stalked in this way.
Unless these third-party applications are in your contact list or have an ongoing conversation with you, they will never be able to determine when you last read messages or when you were online unless they have access to your contact list or active chat.
The email from customer care, on the other hand, makes no mention of the “Everyone” privacy option or if turning it on would also obscure a user’s last seen and online status information.
On the other hand, according to the source, if you have communicated with an account but are still unable to view their last seen status, it is because they have activated the “My Contacts Except” privacy option, which is only accessible to certain beta users of WhatsApp on Android and WhatsApp on iOS. However, for the rest of the population, the new privacy safeguards will have no effect. This implies that any current conversations with friends, colleagues, and enterprises will not be interrupted.
The waveform looks for audio communications is now being tested by WhatsApp, according to other recent news reports. The new design will be more in keeping with the purpose of the function, and it will also enable users to choose whether they should listen to the message on a speaker or whether they should use earbuds to listen to it on their phone. The service is currently under beta testing, and it will be some time before it is made available to all WhatsApp users worldwide.
