Tips to take maximum care of the privacy and security of WhatsApp

Private conversations take place on all social networks and messaging services. They are often the virtual space to share opinions, confidential work information and much more. That is why it is so important to take care of both privacy and security. In this note, we will take a tour of the recommended settings to protect both aspects.

WhatsApp has a specific section to take care of privacy. To reach it, you have to tap on the three vertical dots at the top of the application, then tap Settings/Account/Privacy. Once there, you will see the options mentioned below.

Block access to the app with fingerprint: This option, located at the bottom of the menu, is used to activate fingerprint lock. This means that every time the app is opened, the system will ask the user to place their fingerprint on the sensor to verify their identity. It is a good tool, especially if you know that the mobile phone can fall into the hands of anyone.

Hide last connected time: When you enable this alternative, contacts will not be able to see the last connection time. The person who enabled this option will not be able to see this information either. Here you can choose to limit this option to everyone, only contacts, contacts except (...) or no one.

Limit the view of the profile photo: This item, the second item in the Privacy menu, allows you to select who will see the profile picture. The options are: everyone, no one or my contacts except (...). In this third alternative, the user will be able to choose which particular person or persons they wish to hide this information from. The suggestion here is to avoid the option “all”, so that the image is not visible to anyone who has simply gotten the number.

Choose who can see the privacy of states: As the name suggests, allows you to select which people will be able to view what is uploaded to the states. The alternatives are: my contacts/my contacts except (...) /just share with (...). Here the choice will depend on the type of content and purpose of the material being uploaded. If you are trying to reach the widest possible audience, then you should enable “my contacts”. If you want to share a private photo or message only for friends or relatives, then you have to choose between the other two.

Read receipts: here you can enable or disable the famous blue tick that indicates whether the message was read or not. If you want to take maximum care of privacy and take time to answer messages, then it is best to disable this feature. Here, as with the last connection time, if the user disables the alternative then they will not be able to see whether the recipients of their messages have seen their messages or not.

Temporary messages: this feature that came in 2020 allows you to configure messages so that disappear after a while after they have been sent. The options are: 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. It is a tool that adds a layer of security and can be useful for use in private or group chats where sensitive information is known to be shared frequently. It is important to know, however, that no matter how much this tool is used, it is not impossible for the material to leak as other users could take screenshots of the conversations.

Group option: The user here can select who can add him to the group chats that are created. One option is to allow everyone to do so, which is the default alternative; the other alternatives are as follows: my contacts/my contacts (except). This is a function that should be activated if the user prefers to have the option of declining joining certain groups.

Block contacts: This section contains all blocked contacts. Contacts can be blocked from the same chat in which messages are received or even added by phone number from here. Blocked contacts will no longer be able to send messages.

Send photos and videos that can only be viewed once: this option, unlike all the previous ones, is not within the Privacy section but is activated from each chat. It is a tool that allows you to send photos or videos that will be automatically deleted after being viewed.

How to make use of this tool? Enter the conversation, press the clip icon and choose to send media, as you always do. After adding the photo or video, you will see that a small virtual button with the number 1 in the center appears next to this content. If that button is pressed, the recipient will only be able to view the content once and then it will be automatically deleted.

The sender will be able to know if the contact opened the material because a message will appear in their chat that says “open”. If you send to a group chat, you will also be able to know who viewed or received the content by pressing and holding the message.

Security

Two-step verification: this is the most important tool to take care of the app's security as it allows you to add a second instance to corroborate the identity of the user. This option is accessed under Settings/Account. This is the third alternative within this section. There you can set a PIN and an email address that will need to be remembered to enter the account in case the PIN code is forgotten.

Show security notifications on the phone: End-to-end encrypted chats between the sender and receiver have their own security code that is used to verify that calls and messages sent to that chat are encrypted from end to end. This code can be found on the contact information screen in QR code format and also as a 60-digit code. The codes are unique to each chat and can be compared by the participants of each conversation to confirm that the messages sent there are end-to-end encrypted, as explained on the official website of the messaging service.

Sometimes you can change the security code used in end-to-end encryption, and this usually happens when the user or one of your contacts reinstalls WhatsApp or changes phones. To receive notifications when security codes are changed, you must do the following: in Settings go to Account/Security and activate the Show security notifications option there.

Enable end-to-end encryption for backups: WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption in chats since 2016, however until recently it did not have this option in backups. In October 2021, this security tool was added.

To enable it, go to Settings/Chats/Backup and there activate the option that says End-to-end backup. In doing so, you must follow the steps to create your own or auto-generated key. It is important to know that when this option is activated, if you later change your mobile phone and want to recover the stored chats, you will have to remember that password.

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