In response to criticism from the government, the end-to-end encrypted messaging app is getting three new features as the business launches a nationwide advertising campaign in the UK.
 |
| WhatsApp New Update about Privacy Policy |
With the help of new privacy capabilities, WhatsApp users will be able to quit groups secretly
People will be able to limit who can see when they are online and avoid screenshots of "View Once" messages that delete themselves after a certain amount of time.
The features, according to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, are measures to keep users' chats as "safe as face-to-face discussions."
They're being released in conjunction with an international advertising campaign that begins in the UK and India.
Currently, when users log out of group chats on WhatsApp, the entire chat receives a warning indicating they have done so, which may attract unwelcome attention. Only administrators will now receive notifications, according to the company.
Users can opt to share the fact that the app broadcasts to all of their contacts while they are online and using it.
WhatsApp previously advised users to "never share photographs or videos with 'View Once' media enabled to trustworthy individuals" due to the possibility of taking a screenshot or screen capture of the media before it vanished.
After the launch of statuses in 2017, some people perceived the change as another feature that WhatsApp borrowed from Snapchat.
In his article announcing the most recent WhatsApp updates, Mr. Zuckerberg said, "We'll keep coming up with creative ways to safeguard your chats and keep them as highly encrypt as face-to-face chats."
The marketing campaign, which will feature a billboard on Wandsworth Roundabout in southwest London, occurs as Meta has come under fire for how its privacy features could be misused by anyone trying to elude law enforcement.
No Place To Hide, a government-funded advertising campaign that debuted earlier this year, sought to draw attention to the difficulties that end-to-end encrypted texting presents to law enforcement when they are looking into cases of child sexual abuse.
End-to-end encryption, according to Meta, is the only way to guarantee that users can safely message one another without a third party listening in. Meta has made this position clear time and time again.
Mr. Zuckerberg announced his plans to change privacy on the platform back in 2019. He would prevent Meta itself from reading the content of shared messages, similar to how it is unable to access the content of WhatsApp messages.
These adjustments have not yet been applied to its other platforms, though, due to worries that they would make law enforcement oblivious to instances of child abuse and grooming on those platforms and would lead to a covert government injunction.
Comments
Post a Comment