8 WhatsApp Features to Boost Your Security and Privacy – WIRED

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 3 billion users. But its ubiquity also makes it a target for attackers. In December, security researchers documented a new form of account hijacking called GhostPairing, which sees users tricked into linking an attacker’s browser to their WhatsApp device. Meanwhile, in November, Austrian researchers plugged billions of numbers into WhatsApp’s contact discovery tool to create “the most extensive exposure of phone numbers” ever—along with profile photos and more. WhatsApp is protected by end-to-end encryption, the gold standard of security that, when implemented properly, means only you and the person you’re chatting with can read your messages. Behind the scenes, WhatsApp has also launched passkey-encrypted backups and privacy-enhanced AI technology. But there are a bunch of features you can use to boost your own privacy and security in the Meta-owned app. Here are eight of the best. Privacy Checkup A good place to start is WhatsApp’s Privacy Checkup feature in Settings under Privacy, which allows you to control who sees data such as your profile photo, About information, and status. You can also add extra privacy to your profile by adjusting the last Seen/Online setting to Nobody.
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