WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users. As a messaging platform that emphasizes privacy and security, WhatsApp provides users with various features to control their privacy.
Disappearing Messages
One of the most useful privacy features in WhatsApp is the ability to send disappearing messages. When enabled, any new messages sent in the individual or group chat will disappear after 7 days. This helps keep conversations more private and ephemeral.
To use disappearing messages, open the WhatsApp chat, tap the contact’s name, then tap “Disappearing messages”. You can select whether you want messages to disappear after 7 days or 24 hours. All participants in the chat will need to have disappearing messages enabled for the messages to disappear.
Encryption
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption for all messages, voice calls, video calls, photos, videos, documents and more. This means only the sender and recipient can read the messages, not even WhatsApp itself. Encryption prevents third parties from accessing communications between users.
WhatsApp’s encryption uses the Signal protocol, which employs advanced cryptography mechanisms like the double ratchet algorithm to provide encryption. Keys used to encrypt messages are regularly changed to enhance security.
Blocking Contacts
You can block contacts in WhatsApp easily – this prevents them from sending you messages, calling you, or seeing when you’re online. To block a contact:
- Open the chat with the contact
- Tap on the contact’s name at the top
- Select Block Contact
You can also report problematic contacts or groups within WhatsApp as well.
Authentication
WhatsApp provides two-step verification as an optional security enhancement. When enabled, you need to enter a six digit PIN when registering your phone number with WhatsApp again. This PIN is specific to your account.
To enable two-step verification, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Two-step verification. You can then set up a PIN and enable the feature.
Media Visibility
By default, your media visibility is set to “Everyone” – this allows any WhatsApp user to see your profile photo and about info if they have your phone number saved in their contacts. You can change this to:
- My Contacts – only those in your address book can see profile photo and about
- Nobody – profile photo and about will not be visible to anyone
To change, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Profile Photo > select visibility option.
Location Sharing
You can control who can see your live location when sharing in WhatsApp. When sharing location, change the “Live Location” visibility to be:
- 15 minutes – share temporarily for 15 minutes
- 1 hour – share for one hour
- 8 hours – share for eight hours
You can stop sharing the live location at any time. You can also report a contact if they are sharing unwanted live location.
Groups
WhatsApp has options to control your privacy and visibility in group chats:
- Group Privacy – Adjust if all participants or only admins can add you to groups.
- Group Invite Links – Revoke any active invitation links to prevent others from joining a group via the link.
- Group Subject – Change group subject to be more vague if needed.
- Hide Messages – Admins can enable a setting to hide messages that have been dismissed by other participants, removing visibility.
Last Seen / Read Receipts
You can configure whether contacts can see your “last seen” or when you have read their messages under WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy
Options include:
- Everyone – All users can see last seen and read receipts
- My Contacts – Only your contacts can see details
- Nobody – Last seen and receipts hidden
This gives you granular control over this visibility.
Report Messages
If you receive offensive, problematic or spam messages, you can easily report these to WhatsApp for further investigation. Just long press on the message and select Report.
Delete Messages
If you want to delete an individual message, you can tap and hold on the message, choose delete, and delete for everyone. This removes visibility of that message for all participants.
Data Downloads
Under Settings > Account > Request Account Info, you can download all your WhatsApp data. This lets you backup your messages and see what data WhatsApp has associated with your account.
Conversation Backup
You can configure WhatsApp to regularly backup your conversation history either to Google Drive or iCloud. This provides redundancy if you lose access to your conversations.
Follow WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup to setup.
Conclusion
WhatsApp offers a variety of privacy controls and features users can enable to enhance the security and privacy of their messaging and account. Key options include disappearing messages, encryption, blocking contacts, authentication, granular media/location visibility controls, reporting, and deleting messages.
Users should take advantage of these options to lock down their WhatsApp experience to their comfort level for privacy. WhatsApp continues to invest in privacy and security over time.
Some key settings to review:
- Enable disappearing messages for sensitive chats
- Block/report unwanted contacts
- Limit visibility of profile photo/about info
- Disable read receipts and last seen for privacy
- Configure automated backups for chat history
- Use two-step verification for account security
Keeping WhatsApp’s privacy controls in mind allows users to securely enjoy messaging with their contacts conveniently and confidently.