"Today we're introducing our latest layer for privacy called 'Advanced Chat Privacy.' This new setting available in both chats and groups helps prevent others from taking content outside of WhatsApp for when you may want extra privacy," WhatsApp said. The new Advanced Chat Privacy feature is part of a broader effort to make communicating using WhatsApp more secure, which started almost seven years ago when the company introduced end-to-end encryption. The company added that this is the first version of this feature, and it's rolling out to all users who have updated WhatsApp to the latest version. WhatsApp is also working on adding more protections to Advanced Chat Privacy to make it even more effective. WhatsApp has introduced a new Advanced Chat Privacy feature to protect sensitive information exchanged in private chats and group conversations. More recently, WhatsApp added support for locking chats using a password or fingerprint, introduced a Secret Code feature to hide the locked chats, and started allowing Android and iOS users to hide their location during calls by proxying the connection through WhatsApp's servers. However, it's important to note that, even after enabling Advanced Chat Privacy, there are still ways to extract sensitive media and information, such as taking a picture of the WhatsApp conversation if screenshots are blocked. In December of the same year, WhatsApp expanded privacy controls by adding support for default disappearing messages to all new chats. Since October 2024, WhatsApp has also begun encrypting contact databases for privacy-preserving synchronization, ensuring that contact lists bind to accounts rather than devices, allowing easy management between device changes or replacements. The new privacy option can be enabled after tapping the chat name and is designed to prevent attempts to save media and export chat content.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:45:09 +0000