"Protecting the privacy of your messages continues to drive what we build at WhatsApp. While end-to-end encryption is the foundation for ensuring your conversations and messages are secure, we continue to add more layers of privacy," writes the provider and developer of the popular chat app
The best-known form of protection is end-to-end encryption. This means that only the sender and receiver can read a message. It is a form of asymmetric encryption, meaning that both have a public key to encrypt a message. However, the sender and receiver each have their own private key to read encrypted messages. This is also known as Public Key Infrastructure (KPI). This security method makes it impossible to secretly eavesdrop on people.
Other ways WhatsApp protects users is by adding an expiration date to messages, two-step verification, one-time message viewing, offering encrypted backups and Chat Lock to protect confidential messages with a password or biometrics.
In the next round of updates, WhatsApp is adding two new privacy options: Keep Unknown Callers Silent and Privacy Control. Keep Unknown Callers Silent was devised to give users more control for incoming calls. This feature helps to automatically screen spam messages, calls from unknown people and scams for more protection.
Calls from unknown numbers are immediately put on silent. They do still appear in the Calls tab, in case it was an important call. This feature can be found in the settings menu under Privacy > Calls.
The second new privacy feature WhatsApp is introducing is called Privacy Check. Users who tap it will be guided through a menu where WhatsApp informs them about various privacy aspects of the app. In this way, WhatsApp aims to simplify managing individual privacy settings while making users aware of the various privacy options offered by the chat application.
Privacy Control explains how to set up who can contact you, as well as how to manage personal information, add more protection to your account, and how to increase the privacy of your chats. To do so, go to Settings > Privacy > Privacy Control.
Keep Unknown Callers Silent and Privacy Control are both being rolled out this week, for both Android and iOS users. When the update will be available is being left open by WhatsApp. All the company will say about it is we can expect it "this week.
