Meta announces new WhatsApp privacy features

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed a new privacy policy to WhatsApp users.

According to the new announcement, the users can control who can see their online status, block screenshots on View Once messages, and leave group chats silently. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, said this would help to keep WhatsApp messaging "as private and secure as face-to-face conversations." Highlighting these features on a global campaign, the company decided to begin rolling out them this month starting in the UK.

WhatsApp currently alerts all group members if someone leaves or is being removed by default. While there are ways to disable this for individual group chats, the option of leaving silently is not presented to users when they choose to "exit group." This act sometimes causes embarrassment, awkwardness, or drama for those trying to leave the group unnoticed. The new feature in the popular messaging app allows members to leave a group without notifying other members. Only Group admins will be notified.

The new feature will also provide users an option to allow only specific contacts - or no one - to see when they are active on the platform, aligning online status options with "last seen" settings.